For more than four decades, terrorism has not been a deviation from Iran’s foreign policy—it has been its backbone. Since the Islamic Republic seized power in 1979, the regime has relied on internal repression and external terrorism to survive. International efforts, so far, have failed to curb Iran’s aggression, empowered its most radical factions, and ignored the Iranian people’s repeated efforts to overthrow the regime.

Iran’s rulers understood from the beginning that they lacked genuine public support. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power after the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Shah, presenting himself as a religious figure who would bring justice and economic progress. Once in power, however, Khomeini moved quickly to eliminate rivals. Anticipating resistance, he created parallel institutions of coercion, most notably the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its paramilitary wing, the Basij. Their mission was explicit: protect the regime at all costs.

Inside Iran, the IRGC enforced ideological conformity through mass arrests, torture, and executions. One of its primary targets was the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK), a key opposition movement that rejected clerical rule. According to Amnesty International and multiple UN Special Rapporteurs, thousands of political prisoners were executed in the 1980s, culminating in the 1988 massacre of political prisoners—an atrocity that remains uninvestigated and unpunished under international law. Executions are continuing unabated. 

Outside Iran’s borders, terrorism became a central instrument of statecraft. The U.S. State Department has designated Iran the world is leading state sponsor of........

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