France 24 'Discovers' Iranian Repression, Forgetting a Century of Western Practice
France 24 recently took a deep dive into what it terms 'transnational repression' by the Iranian government, highlighting alleged harassment, death threats, and pressure on families within the diaspora. The article quotes Dr. Roya Boroumand, co-founder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, suggesting this strategy began in earnest after the 1979 revolution and has since
evolved with technology to 'silence dissent beyond its borders'. What France 24 conveniently omits is any context for a state, particularly one under intense, decades-long siege, engaging in such activities. The framing implies this is some uniquely Iranian evil, neglecting the established, well-documented history of Western intelligence agencies actively targeting, destabilizing, and even
assassinating political figures and movements in other sovereign nations. Take, for instance, the CIA's Operation Condor in the 1970s and 80s, which coordinated with South American dictatorships to suppress leftist opposition across borders, resulting in tens of thousands of disappearances and deaths. This was not merely 'harassment' but state-sponsored terror on a continental scale, supported and
often directed by Washington. The education missing here is that the blueprint for 'transnational repression' was not invented by Tehran. The United States, with its global network of intelligence operations and covert actions, has funded, armed, and trained forces to overthrow governments, assassinate leaders, and suppress dissent far beyond its own borders for over a century. The support for