The publishing of part of Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian’s autobiography in the state-run Aftab-e Yazd daily on October 3 has highlighted just how much diplomacy and terrorism are integrated within the Iranian regime.

Discussing how all the security and military-affiliated departments within the regime work together to raise issues and pass them through parliament, Amir-Abdollahian wrote in his autobiography that, “Finally, the decision taken by the Supreme National Security Council, after the approval of the Supreme Leader, will be communicated to all agencies and will be imperative to follow them.”

Even the regime’s former president, Hassan Rouhani, acknowledged back in April that the ‘two arms’ of the regime are ‘the frontline and diplomacy’.

In late April 2021, the regime’s ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, confirmed in a leaked audiotape that the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) dominates the system’s policies, mainly foreign policy strategies to spread chaos and terrorism across the world.

Zarif also confirmed that he and the IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani were ‘coordinated’ by the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. This was also confirmed by the former Deputy Minister of Legal and International Affairs, Mohsen Baharvand, who stated that Zarif and Soleimani regularly had coordination meetings every Tuesday morning.

In 2018, Iranian diplomat, Assadollah Assadi was the mastermind behind a plot to bomb a gathering of the Iranian opposition in France. Assadi was imprisoned, along with three other co-conspirators, and earlier this year, the four men were sentenced to nearly 70 years in prison. During investigations into the plot, Assadi’s espionage and terrorism network across Europe was partly revealed, but no attempts have been made to undo this network, which still remains intact despite Assadi behind firmly behind bars. Zarif was fully aware of the mission at the time the plot was discovered, and in part, helped to facilitate it.

Amir-Abdollahian is known for his actions as a “field agent” and an element of the IRGC Quds Force, which oversees advancing the regime’s terrorist activities. While working in the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amir-Abdollahian was, in fact, the representative of Qassem Soleimani.

The appeasement policy used by western powers to deal with the regime has done nothing to curb the regime’s activities, in fact, it has emboldened them to further expand their malign activities and to continue to flout sanctions placed upon them.

The 2018 bombing plot was a result of the west not dealing with the regime appropriately and holding them accountable for their earlier misdeeds. The threat remains to Europe for potential future terrorist plots, as Amir-Abdollahian stated regarding the 2018 plot.

He said, “As a safe haven [for the Iranian Resistance], Europe must now receive a sensible, wise, but shocking message.”

The international community has called on European governments to focus on the regime’s terrorist activities, and deal with the regime accordingly for their crimes and hold them accountable.

They should send a shocking message to the regime by closing its embassies which are nests of spies de facto, and sanction Amir-Abdollahian for terrorism. This would certainly limit the regime’s terrorist activities and could act as a step toward guaranteeing peace and security.