Library: Watchlist 1

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon and is as old as ancient history. However, the twentieth century can be considered the peak of this sinister phenomenon. Although terrorist attacks are mainly conducted for political and sometimes ideological purposes, the vast majority of victims around the world are innocent civilians and, in this sense, no distinction is made among terrorists. Regardless of whether it is the political and ideological groups that carry out terrorist attacks or the governments that conduct physical, economic and cyber terrorism to deal with opposition groups or rival countries, the very nature of terrorism is absolutely disgraceful.

Monitoring the political changes of the 1980s reveals that Iran, which is located in the center of the West Asia region, has always been one of the targets of terrorism. Starting from the first months of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in February 1979, political opponents of the new government in Iran initiated a series of assassinations. In these operations, not only political officials were targeted but also thousands of Iranians were murdered in blind bombings. In one operation, more than 70 political figures including the head of the judiciary and several members of the parliament were murdered. In another operation, the Iranian president and prime minister were assassinated. In several other operations, a number of prominent religious figures were assassinated in various cities in Iran. These operations were not limited to the 1980s and continued afterward.

At the beginning of the 21st century, terrorist operations of various groups, including separatist groups increased in number. In addition, the emergence of ideological extremist groups in parts of Iran led to a series of violent operations such as suicide attacks on military and civilian targets. During the last four decades, more than 17,000 Iranian people have fallen victim to terrorist operations by various anti-government groups in Iran.

These terrorist groups are all identified and almost all of them reside outside Iran. Their offices and headquarters are located in a number of foreign countries and overtly promote hatred and violence against the Iranian government. The Center of Terrorism Studies affiliated with the families of terror victims in Iran considers terrorism and extremism as major threats to the peace and security of citizens all around the world. Unfortunately, a significant part of these terrorists who have targeted Iranian citizens during the last four decades are officially sheltered in some European countries. Our concern, as descendants of terror victims, is that the presence of these violent groups will affect the security of innocent citizens of Europe and the West Asia region, just as it overshadowed the security of Iranian ones.

Therefore, we intended to provide the international community with information, reports and documents related to these terrorist groups in Iran and West Asia region as well as their history through publishing a monthly in order to raise awareness, and caution the elite against the dangers of the spread of extremism, terrorism, and violence and the terrorists’ coexistence with citizens. Stay tuned for our next issues.