Who Really Influences the Diaspora?
Across Western cities, diaspora communities serve as both a haven and a battlefield. Iranian intelligence has increasingly extended its reach into these communities, shaping opinions, monitoring dissidents, and exerting pressure on those who fled repression.
The question arises: are Western laws prepared to protect the Diaspora, or are they still policing yesterday’s threats while Tehran quietly molds today’s realities?
Understanding this dynamic is critical, not only for policymakers but for the thousands of individuals navigating life under dual pressures: the threat of external influence and the challenge of maintaining personal freedom.
Dual Realities: Dissidents and Agents within the Diaspora
Within the diaspora, two distinct groups operate simultaneously. On one hand are the agents of Tehran, individuals who carry out transnational repression — monitoring, intimidating, and even threatening fellow community members to enforce compliance or loyalty.
These actors exploit cultural organizations, student groups, and diaspora-run businesses, forming a covert network that ensures the regime’s influence extends far beyond Iranian borders.
On the other hand are dissidents and refugees, like Nick Berg and Ricardo, the protagonist in Shadows of Tehran. These individuals fled Iran to escape political persecution, ideological persecution, or threats to their safety.
While they seek refuge and freedom, they often find themselves under surveillance or subtle coercion within their own communities.
Nick Berg and Ricardo’s experiences illustrate that the diaspora is not a neutral space: it is a contested zone where hybrid tactics are deployed, and personal courage becomes essential for survival.
Tehran’s Proxy Networks and Diaspora Influence
Iran operates through extensive proxy networks, targeting diaspora communities with a combination of financial support, social pressure, and intelligence operations.
Cultural centers, religious institutions, and even seemingly innocuous business groups may serve as nodes for influence. These networks amplify Tehran’s reach without deploying conventional military power, effectively turning the diaspora into a chessboard of hybrid warfare.
The question emerges: are these proxy networks quietly shaping loyalties and silencing dissent across the diaspora?
Evidence from independent reports confirms that Iranian-linked actors have monitored and pressured diaspora members in Europe, North America, and Australia, demonstrating that repression is no longer confined to Iranian territory.
A 2025 European Parliament study highlights that Iranian intelligence services have been involved in surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of Iranian dissidents residing in EU member states. The report notes that these activities often occur through proxies and have led to incidents such as physical assaults and digital surveillance, particularly targeting human rights defenders and journalists. These actions are part of a broader pattern of transnational repression aimed at silencing opposition abroad.
Freedom House’s 2024 report on transnational repression details how Iran employs a range of tactics—including threats, spyware, coercion by proxy, and mobility controls—to exert pressure on individuals involved in opposition politics or independent journalism. The report emphasizes that these methods extend beyond those who have been kidnapped, killed, or detained, indicating a persistent effort to monitor and control diaspora communities.
A 2024 RSF report documents the rise of transnational threats against Iranian journalists working in the United Kingdom. The report underscores that exiled Iranian journalists face increasing intimidation and attacks, both online and offline, in countries including the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, and the US. These threats are part of a broader strategy to suppress dissent and control narratives within the diaspora.
Existing Western legal frameworks — designed primarily to address espionage, terrorism, or organized crime — struggle to respond to these subtle, transnational pressures. They are effective at policing overt threats but less adept at detecting covert influence campaigns, intimidation tactics, and proxy operations.
Meanwhile, Tehran exploits these gaps, employing its networks to exert political control abroad without triggering direct legal consequences.
Diaspora members find themselves in a legal gray zone. While they enjoy freedom of speech and assembly, they are vulnerable to surveillance, intimidation, and social fragmentation — threats that existing laws inadequately address.
Policymakers must adapt to hybrid warfare tactics, integrating intelligence, community engagement, and legal reform to safeguard freedom within diaspora communities.
The Human Cost for the Diaspora
The consequences for diaspora communities are profound. Fear of reprisal leads to self-censorship, erosion of trust, and fragmentation of support networks. Families, cultural organizations, and student groups may hesitate to speak out, weakening societal resilience.
Nick Berg and Ricardo exemplify those who navigate these pressures with strategic insight and courage. Their stories highlight the stakes: without awareness and protective measures, diaspora communities become instruments in Tehran’s proxy campaigns, and the very freedoms they sought in the West are compromised.
Berg’s experiences, as documented in Shadows of Tehran, demonstrate how dual identity and cultural understanding are vital to anticipating threats and protecting vulnerable communities.
Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and activist residing in the United States, has been subjected to multiple threats from Iranian authorities. In 2022 and 2023, she was targeted in two separate kidnapping plots orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). These attempts were part of a broader strategy to silence critics of the Iranian regime living abroad.
Nabil “Ace” Esmaeili, a Melbourne-based Iranian rapper, has faced direct threats from Tehran due to his politically charged music. After releasing a track critical of the Iranian regime, he received messages via Telegram and his relatives in Iran were contacted, urging him to cease his activism. Despite these intimidations, Esmaeili continues to use his platform to speak out against oppression.
Alireza Akbari, a British-Iranian dual national and former Iranian deputy defense minister, was executed in Iran in January 2023. He had been arrested in 2019 and accused of espionage for the UK. His execution highlighted the Iranian regime’s willingness to target individuals with dual nationality, even those residing in Western countries, as a means of exerting pressure on diaspora communities.
Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian dissident, was abducted in 2020 during a layover in Dubai and taken to Iran. He was later sentenced to death on charges of terrorism, which his family and supporters dispute. Sharmahd’s case underscores the lengths to which Iran will go to target diaspora members, even those with legal residency in other countries.
These instances demonstrate that members of the Iranian diaspora are not only at risk of surveillance and intimidation but are also facing tangible threats to their safety and freedom. Such actions highlight the need for Western nations to adapt their legal frameworks to address the evolving nature of transnational repression.
Can Diaspora Freedom Survive Proxy Networks?
The challenges facing diaspora communities today are complex and evolving. Iranian influence through proxy networks, hybrid warfare, and transnational intimidation threatens not only individual safety but the collective freedom of diaspora communities.
Western laws, still designed for older threats, often fail to protect those at risk.
For policymakers, community leaders, and individuals alike, the question is urgent:
How can the diaspora maintain freedom, resilience, and agency under the shadow of Tehran’s reach?
Awareness, strategic engagement, and legal adaptation are essential. By understanding the dynamics detailed in Shadows of Tehran and learning from dissidents like Nick Berg and Ricardo, diaspora communities can navigate these threats while preserving their rights and values.
