Based on a comprehensive investigative report published by the French outlet “Le Diplomate” a sprawling and highly structured network of clandestine influence operated by the Iranian regime has deeply penetrated European societies, elites, and decision-making centers. The detailed exposé reveals how Tehran, particularly since the 2013–2015 nuclear negotiations, has seamlessly blended traditional diplomacy with covert infiltration tactics, utilizing academic circles, think tanks, cultural associations, and parliamentary friendship groups to shape Western policy. This strategic maneuvering comes at a critical juncture; with Iran’s regional proxies severely weakened following the geopolitical shifts of the summer of 2025, and the regime facing unprecedented internal isolation following the bloody massacre of protesters during the massive nationwide uprisings of December 2025 and January 2026, Tehran is increasingly relying on its European networks to break its diplomatic isolation, circumvent sanctions, and legitimize its grip on power.
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The foundation of this influence operation was starkly exposed by recent international leaks, most notably the thousands of emails from Mostafa Zahrani, a former director at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, obtained by Semafor. These communications unveiled the “Iran Experts Initiative” (IEI), a coordinated effort orchestrated by Iranian diplomats, including Saeed Khatibzadeh, to cultivate a core group of “second-generation” Iranians living in the West. These individuals were strategically placed within prestigious Western think tanks and government institutions to echo Tehran’s narratives under the guise of independent academic analysis. Prominent figures implicated in this network include Ariane Tabatabai, who secured high-level, security-cleared positions at the Pentagon and within Robert Malley’s nuclear negotiation team, as well as Dina Esfandiary and Ali Vaez at the International Crisis Group. Their primary function, according to the report, has been to subtly steer Western capitals toward accommodating Tehran’s demands regarding the nuclear program and sanctions, while systematically disseminating the false narrative that no credible, organized democratic opposition exists against the clerical regime.
The institutional mapping of this infiltration is further corroborated by the “Friends of a Free Iran” (FoFI) report presented to the European Parliament in November 2023, and notably by an exhaustive 86-page investigation titled “The Infiltration of the Islamic Republic of Iran in France,” directed by Gilles Platret for the “France 2050” think tank in the fall of 2025. This latter report identifies France as a primary laboratory for Tehran’s operations, pointing to the Iranian Embassy in Paris as the central continental hub for these activities. The strategy relies heavily on “hybrid actors” who operate at the intersection of diplomacy, academia, and civil society. A prime example cited is Alireza Khalili, who simultaneously serves as the chief of staff to the Iranian Ambassador in Paris, the president of the Franco-Iranian Centre (CFI), and a university professor of geopolitics. This calculated overlap allows Iranian operatives to infiltrate French academic, media, and political circles, using ostensibly benign cultural events as platforms for recruiting influential voices and advancing the regime’s strategic agenda. The report also serves as a grim reminder that this “soft power” is intrinsically linked to state-sponsored terrorism, recalling the case of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian intelligence officer operating under diplomatic cover who was convicted in Belgium for orchestrating a foiled bomb plot against the Iranian opposition gathering in Paris in 2018.
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One of the most vulnerable and under-regulated vectors of this foreign interference lies within European parliamentary institutions, particularly the “friendship groups.” The report casts a critical eye on the France-Iran friendship group in the French National Assembly, recently reactivated under the presidency of Socialist MP Ayda Hadizadeh. The investigation highlights a troubling lack of transparency and geopolitical vetting within these parliamentary bodies, which can easily be transformed into Trojan horses for foreign state lobbying. Hadizadeh herself has sparked controversy with proposals that align remarkably well with Tehran’s official rhetoric. At a time when French diplomacy is actively working to free its citizens held hostage in Iran, she suggested inviting the Iranian ambassador for a media exchange at the Assembly. Furthermore, in an interview with Le Figaro, she proposed facilitating a dialogue between democratic forces that included the son of the former Shah—a figure associated with a deposed dictatorship—while explicitly excluding the main organized resistance, the MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq). This systematic exclusion perfectly mirrors the Iranian regime’s intense animosity and propaganda campaigns against its most structured opposition.
The academic and media spheres are equally targeted, with universities often unwittingly providing a veneer of legitimacy to Tehran’s proxies. The report scrutinizes a June 11, 2025, colloquium held at the prestigious Sorbonne University, which was quietly co-organized by “Asre Goftego Qalam,” a Tehran-based institute directly linked to the Iranian Ministry of Culture and recently praised by Iran’s cyber police, alongside “Ferdossi Legal.” Such events are designed to lobby for the lifting of international sanctions under the guise of pluralistic intellectual debate. The fallout of this infiltration was visible on French television, where individuals like Kevan Gafaïti, another colloquium participant, appeared on networks like LCI to downplay and minimize the sheer scale of the regime’s brutal massacres of protesters in January 2026. The investigative report explains that Tehran enforces this loyalty not necessarily through ideological alignment, but through a sophisticated system of blackmail and “hostage diplomacy.” By controlling visa access for dual nationals, journalists, and researchers who desperately need to visit Iran for family or professional reasons, the regime coerces them into compliance, forcing them to parrot state narratives and attack the opposition—a tactic heavily documented by German domestic intelligence (BfV) and independent journalists alike.
Ultimately, “Le Diplomate” warns that Europe suffers from a dangerous structural blindness, having concentrated its anti-interference mechanisms almost entirely on Russia and China while leaving a massive blind spot regarding Iran. The report concludes that a purely moral or legal response is insufficient; Europe must adopt a stance of absolute “Realpolitik.” This requires the immediate implementation of specific registries for foreign-funded entities, strict oversight and transparency mandates for parliamentary friendship groups, and rigorous security audits of academic partnerships with Iranian institutions. By failing to recognize this meticulously orchestrated infiltration as a low-cost, high-yield weapon of asymmetric warfare, Western democracies are essentially granting the Iranian regime unchecked leverage to manipulate public opinion, neutralize opposition voices, and shape the very policies intended to contain it.
