At the outset of the U.S.-Iran war, many expected Iran to activate its proxy terrorist network to target the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. But, instead of directly deploying sophisticated operatives from Hezbollah or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, Iran has relied on a variegated collection of pay-for-hire criminals, often recruited online, or turned to expatriates with long-standing ties to, or familiar relations in, Iran and Lebanon. Through these cut-outs, Tehran has sought to obscure its hand behind a series of relatively unsophisticated attacks that have mostly involved arson, crude incendiary devices, vehicular rammings, stabbings, and more serious incidents using actual bombs and hand grenades.
