Inside Iran’s terror network ‘with sleeper cells of fanatics ready to strike World Cup to hit back at ‘weak’ West

IRAN has sprawling network of terrorist sleeper cells ready to strike the West – and possibly even launch an attack on the World Cup.

Bloody operations linked to Iran have reached deep into Europe and the US – all working on orders from the very top of Tehran.

AFPIranian have a sprawling network of terrorist forces ready to strike[/caption]

Opposition activists warned The Sun Online that Westerners are increasingly becoming the target of the Iranian regime.

And they accused the West of being weak for not doing more to crack down on the regime

And the worsening political situation back home – with mass protests calling for regime change – is going to make things worse.

Iran could seek to lash out abroad and step up their terrorist activity – especially with the world’s eyes on the World Cup in Qatar.

The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) -an opposition group which advocates the overthrow of the regime -has warned Iran has stepped up its terrorist activities.

It warned there is a whole network of proxies- “not only ready but functioning” spread across the globe.

The network has sprawling tendrils especially in the Middle East.

But the regime has also carried out terror attacks or major terrorist operations in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and many others.

All of these are overseen by the military group known as the Quds Force, watched over by the powerful and fanatical Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Quds Force – once headed by General Qassem Soleimani before he was blown up by the US in 2020 – reports directly to the supreme leader of fundamentalist regime, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It is estimated the force is up to 20,000 strong and is understood to be responsible for supporting and training proxy groups worldwide.

And they could have the World Cup in their brutal sights.

Top spy chief Major General Aharon Haliva warned last week that Tehran could use the tournament to cause carnage.

He said the only thing stopping the Iranians was fears of how Qatar could react to such a provocation.

“I am telling you that the Iranians are now considering attacking the World Cup in Qatar as well,” said Maj. Gen Haliva.

His warning came after the head of MI5, Ken McCallum, named Iran as a major security threat to the UK – with ten foiled plots to kidnap or kill people in Britain in 2022.

In a terrifying warning to the West, the PMOI spokesman Shahin Gobadi, said that part of the terrorist group’s tactics is taking Westerners as hostages to later use as “leverage against Europe.”

He told The Sun Online: “As the regime is getting bigger it resorts to more and more repression at home and terrorism abroad- one part is taking westerns as hostages.

“In order to keep the ship at bay and maintain the balance, they have resolved to more executions at home, to more terrorism abroad, to more support for extremist groups abroad and more repression at home.

“Running proxies has been a part impartial of this strategy.

“It’s not a secret the regime has created, financed harboured, trained and armed all sorts of terrorist groups across the world.

“The regime’s tentacles have reached not only Europe but also the States, in Latin America, Africa- so basically all the continents.

“This regime recognises no borders when it comes to terrorism and more and more Westerners are becoming targeted.”

Gobadi states that taking hostages has been part of the regime’s strategy for years, as a shield for its terror operations describing it as a “pattern.”

A report released by PMOI and shared with The Sun Online reveals how Iran’s policy has developed and spread across the West over the years.

AFPIranian protesters have taken to the streets calling for the end of the regime[/caption]

In the aftermath of the Iranian 1979 revolution the new regime “gradually learned to develop a strategy of hostage-taking and terrorism to achieve one goal: spreading warfare abroad to preserve an illegitimate rule at home.”

The report notes there is “hardly any” major European country Iran has neither attacked nor established a base.

It points out that Iran has used non-Iranian and especially Arab proxy militants to attack foreign targets.

Gobadi notes that the situation has worsened in the past year since hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi rose to power.

Raisi, known as The Butcher, notorious for torturing women and ordering mass executions became Iran’s President last June after winning  50 per cent of the 29million votes.

“Appointing him as the president signals the fact the regime is bound to more terrorism and more repression,” Gobadi said.

Gobadi has also warned that the West is in danger if it doesn’t adapt its response stating that Iran’s priority is to ” step up repression and terrorism abroad, to intensify its drive to acquire nuclear weapons and increase its ballistic missiles arsenal.”

He continued: “Producing sanctions with the regime would be totally counter-productive as it would simply feed this apparatus.

“There should be a warning to the West. The West should adapt its response proportionately.

“If it provides incentives to the regime not only sends the wrong signal but simply facilitates this kind of misconduct which endangers the security of our Europeans and our Westerners.

“It’s about time European countries put aside all these illusions hoping this way by providing concessions and offering concessions you can change the conduct of the regime or make it much more civilized or a more normal state- to the contrary.”

And while it seeks to expand its influence and spread chaos, Iran has been suffering back at home.

Mahsa Amini’s death has sparked widespread outrage in Iran

AlamyMahsa Amini, 22, died after being beaten by Iran’s morality police[/caption]

Tehran has been brutally trying to crush an uprising over the death of Mahsa Amani, 22, in police custody in September.

She was allegedly beaten to death by the morality police after she was detained for wearing an “improper” headscarf.

Massive protests are taking place across Iran in one of the most sustained challenges to the regime.

Iran’s football team have also been embroiled in the controversy – originally refusing to sing the national anthem in their first World Cup game against England.

But since it has been reported their families were then threatened with torture and prison if they contained to “misbehave”.

The team then mumbled their way through the anthem ahead of their game with Wales.

It came as fears were already swirling that the team could reprisals back home – with calls for them to be granted asylum in the UK.

Political dissent is a crime in Iran – and is one of the offences subject to capital punishment, with 21 protesters already facing execution after sham trials since the start of the uprising in September.

Iranian officials had already been discussing cracking down on perceived disrespect to their national anthem and flag ahead of the World Cup.

And the courts have been taking a brutal line on people linked to the protests, with more than 15,000 people arrested and hundreds killed by the security forces.

Some Iranian fans who went to Qatar for the World Cup made no secret of their solidarity with the unrest.

They carried banners that read “Women, Life, Freedom” in support of the protests.

But it has also been reported Iran is paying thousands of supporters to go to the games in support of the regime.

And now it is claimed Iran is monitoring particularly outspoken fans with the eye to punish them after the World Cup.