More than 10,000 Iranians live in the country.
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Negar, an Iranian living in Finland, says that many in the Iranian community fear for their families back in Iran. She believes this fear has kept numerous Iranians from participating in anti-regime demonstrations in Finland. Image: Silja Viitala / Yle
Iranian government agents are reportedly monitoring and intimidating opponents even on Finnish soil, particularly those who openly criticise Tehran’s Islamic regime.
Yle interviewed several Iranian expatriates living in Finland and consulted researchers as well as the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) to assess the threat.
According to intelligence reports, the Islamic Republic has carried out assassinations of dissidents across Europe for decades. Experts say the risk of violence has risen noticeably in recent years.
For the first time, Supo last year listed Iran alongside Russia and China as a state engaged in espionage in Finland.
Supo has not disclosed whether it is aware of any death threats against residents in Finland linked to Iranian state actors, but experts note that this risk has increased across the Nordic region.
“Those targeted are often individuals belonging to the political opposition or other groups perceived as a threat by the authorities,” Supo told Yle via email.
Sweden is the primary target of Iranian intelligence in the Nordics, hosting a large Iranian diaspora of over 100,000. According to the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), several Iranian assassination plots have been foiled there in recent years.
Media reports have highlighted an Iranian couple who plotted to kill three Swedish Jews. The pair was arrested in 2021. They had arrived in Sweden six years earlier as asylum seekers but were acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence.
Opposition figures targeted
Iranian intelligence primarily targets opposition figures, but also acts against Jewish communities and Israel, according to Arvin Khoshnood, an Iranian researcher based in Sweden.
Finland has more than 10,000 Iranians, a population that has grown in recent years.
Iranians in Finland speaking to Yle said Finns should take the threat from Tehran’s intelligence services seriously, noting that Iran has supplied weapons and military support to Russia used against Ukraine.
Supo declined to comment on whether Russia and Iran cooperate on intelligence activities in Finland.
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Babak Arzani, who lives in Helsinki, says that his sister was denied a job in Iran because of his political activism in Finland. He adds that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard owns businesses in Iran and screens individuals’ backgrounds. Image: Mikko Koski / Yle