Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1994
Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism
 

Department of State Publication 10239 >
Office of the Secretary of State
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Released April 1995

Introduction  

The provision of funding, safehaven, and weapons and logistic support to terrorists by sovereign states is crucial to the operation of many international terrorist organizations. Such support continues in defiance of the international community's unequivocal condemnation of terrorism and those who support it. Recognizing the danger that such support represents, a primary aim of our counterterrorism policy has been to apply pressure to such states to stop that support and to make them pay the cost if they persist. We do this by publicly identifying state sponsors and by imposing economic, diplomatic, and sometimes military sanctions. Seven nations are designated as states that sponsor international terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.

Iran is still the most active state sponsor of international terrorism. Iranian terrorist operations concentrate on Iranian dissidents living outside Iran. While Tehran has tried to moderate its public image in the West, Iran continues to use terrorism as ruthlessly as it did under Khomeini and supports groups, such as Hizballah, that pose a threat to Americans. In December, a French court handed down a decision in the trial of three Iranians accused of participating in the 1991 murder of former Iranian Prime Minister Bakhtiar and an assistant. One was sentenced to life and one to 10 years in prison, while the third, an employee of the Iranian Embassy in Bern, was acquitted. Iran remains committed to carrying out the death sentence imposed on British author Salman Rushdie. Iran's main client, Hizballah, could well have been responsible for the 18 July bombing of the Argentine-Israel Mutual Association (AMIA) that left nearly 100 persons dead. Iran supports many other radical organizations that have resorted to terrorism, such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), HAMAS, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestineö General Command (PFLP-GC).

 Iran

Iran is still the most active state sponsor of international terrorism and continues to be directly involved in planning and executing terrorist acts. This year Tehran seems to have maintained its terrorist activities at the level of 1993, when there were four confirmed and two possible Iranian attacks on dissidents living outside Iran. Iranian terrorist operations concentrate on Iranian dissidents, particularly members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) and the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI). Iran supports extremist Palestinian groups that have used terrorism to try to halt the Middle East peace process. Tehran also gives varying degrees of assistance to an assortment of radical Islamic and secular groups from North Africa to Central Asia.

While President Rafsanjani has tried to moderate Iran's public image to expand its economic and political ties to Western Europe and Japan, Iran continues to use terrorism as ruthlessly as it did under Khomeini. Tehran supports groups, such as its main client Hizballah, that pose a threat to Americans. Due to the continuing threat from Tehran and Hizballah, American diplomatic missions and personnel remain at risk.

Confirmed attacks on Iranian dissidents in the past year include the following: the 7 January killing of Taha Kirmeneh, a dissident who was a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), by gunmen in Coru, Turkey; the 10 January wounding of a member of the KDPI by a letter bomb in Stockholm, Sweden; the killing of a KDPI leader in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, on 10 March; and the killing of two members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) in Qabbiyah, Iraq, while driving to Baghdad on 29 May. While the MEK has been victimized by Iranian terrorism, the group has itself employed terrorist tactics.

The 24 June murder of dissident Osman Muhammed Amini at his home in Copenhagen and the 12 November murder of dissident Ali Mohammed Assadi in Bucharest may also have been carried out at the Iranian Government's behest.

On 6 December, a French court handed down a decision in the trial of three Iranians accused of participating in the 1991 murder of former Iranian Prime Minister Bakhtiar and an assistant. One defendant received life imprisonment. A second, an Iranian radio correspondent who is reputed to be a nephew of the late Ayatollah Khomeini, was sentenced to 10 years in jail. The third, an employee of the Iranian Embassy in Bern, was acquitted.

Iran remains committed to implementation of the death sentence imposed on British author Salman Rushdie. When speaking to Western audiences, Iranian leaders claim that the fatwa (or religious finding) against Rushdie is a religious matter that does not involve the Government of Iran.

However, the Iranian Government continued its propaganda campaign against Rushdie. In February, the fifth anniversary of the fatwa, Tehran Radio stated that "The least punishment for (Rushdie) is his execution." Ayatollah Hassan Sanei, the head of a quasi-governmental foundation that has offered a $2 million reward for the murder of Rushdie, said that supporters of Rushdie who campaign for the lifting of the fatwa deserved to be "punished." A Revolutionary Guards official vowed publicly that the death sentence would be carried out. The influence of this campaign has been felt outside Iran. In September, the head of a Muslim organization in Norway threatened to kill Rushdie if he attended a conference on freedom of expression in Stavanger.

Iran is also the world's preeminent state sponsor of extremist Islamic and Palestinian groups, providing funds, weapons, and training. Hizballah, Iran's closest client, could well have been responsible for the 18 July bombing of the Argentine Israel Mutual Association that left nearly 100 persons dead. This operation was virtually identical to the one conducted in March 1992 against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, for which Hizballah claimed responsibility. Hizballah had stated that it would seek retaliation against Israel for the kidnapping of a well-known Lebanese Shia terrorist and the Israeli airstrike in June on a Hizballah camp in Lebanon that killed more than 20 militants.

Iran supports many other radical organizations that have engaged in terrorism. Tehran opposes any compromise with or recognition of Israel and, as the peace process moves ahead, has worked to coordinate a rejectionist front to oppose the Israeli-PLO accords, particularly with the PIJ, the PFLP-GC, and HAMAS, as well as Hizballah.

Tehran continues to provide safehaven to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iran. The PKK -- seeking to establish a Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey -- in 1994 conducted a violent campaign against Turkish tourism, including attacks on tourist spots frequented by foreigners, while continuing unabated the use of terrorism against Turkish citizens, including ethnic Kurds.