Iran uses its overseas Embassies to spy on dissidents and fund influence operations. These embassies operate under direct orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Iranian Armed Forces, IRGC, according to a report.
The Embassies double up as intelligence-gathering hubs to track student communities and deliver cash and equipment under the protection of diplomatic immunity, according to the UK-based Iranian website Iran International. "Every embassy has a list. People to watch. People to engage. People to silence," an Iranian former diplomatic employee told Iran International. "It’s not foreign policy—it’s field execution," another added. "The people sent abroad are on assignment, not appointment."
Though Iran’s embassies maintain the outward structure of any diplomatic mission, these roles are often just a cover. "A person listed as a translator might actually coordinate funds for proxy groups," said one of the former diplomats. "Titles are just for appearances."
The report also quoted instances, including the incident wherein a diplomat, Asadollah Asadi, used his privileges to transport explosives intended for an opposition rally in Paris. Assadi, a former attaché at the Iranian embassy in Austria was convicted of plotting to bomb a gathering of the exiled opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) near Paris on June 30, 2018. He was later released under a prisoner swap programme.
In another incident, a diplomat arrived in Istanbul and Baku with briefcases of undeclared dollars. "They know no one will search their bags," he said.
Iranian diplomats, especially cultural attachés, also organise religious events, which often double as screening grounds for potential recruits. Even appointments to big posts are carried out prioritising the candidate's link to the clerics rather than their professional acumen and experience.
The report quotes sources which claim the appointments are "dominated by the sons of clerics and system insiders". "Your father is a Friday prayer leader? Your uncle is close to the Supreme Leader? You’re in," the source added.
As for their lifestyle, many live in luxury with generous stipends even when ordinary Iranians suffer. One former ambassador’s Paris residence cost over €40,000 per month, the report said, adding that senior envoys receive up to $12,000 monthly. "They send their kids to secular schools while preaching Islamic values," said another. "It’s both reward and insulation," an ex-diplomatic employee said. "The system buys loyalty with luxury—and distances them from the reality of ordinary Iranians."
