By Kayhan Life Staff
A report titled “Infiltration into France of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Spies, Agents of Influence, Thugs: The Mechanics of Chaos” has just been published in France and presented to the heads of both chambers of Parliament as well at the Interior Minister, with the aim of encouraging French parliamentarians to launch a commission of inquiry into the extent of the infiltration.
Commissioned by the “France 2050” think tank, the report brings together Iran analysts as well as specialists on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the infiltration operations of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s secret services in France.
The driving force behind the report was Gilles Platret, a French politician (vice president of The Républicains party between 2019 and 2023) and founder of “France 2050,” which he defines as “an open movement of ideas for all who love France and have the courage to defend her.”
As Mayor of Chalon-sur-Saône, a city in Burgundy since 2014, Mr. Platret has faced repeated challenges from Islamist infiltration in the local community – particularly from the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic Republic over the past 10 years. He has restored secularism in the school canteens of his city, where religious demands had dictated menus in 2015; publicly opposed mayors who are too close to Islamist preachers; and prohibited the display of the Palestinian flag in his city.
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In the spring of 2024, Bachir Biazar — a high-ranking agent of the Quds Force (QF), the elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who had been stationed in the city of Dijon in Burgundy for two years — was arrested and extradited by the French authorities, accused of spying on the Iranian diaspora and of infiltrating the universities in order to stir up unrest.
As a result, in December 2024, Mr. Platret established an independent fact-finding mission on the infiltration of the Islamic Republic of Iran into French society, bringing together experts in domestic security and Iranian affairs, whose findings are published in this report.
In his introduction to the report, Mr. Platret writes: “Of all the ills that afflict our country, one of the least is undoubtedly not one of the most discreet: the infiltration of the Islamic Republic of Iran into France.”
“We believe that the influence operations of the Islamic Republic of Iran in France are stronger than ever,” he adds. “We know that the French intelligence services, among the most effective in the world, have been warning about this phenomenon for many years.”
According to the report, ever since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas against Israel, institutions, media outlets, far-left political parties, universities and intellectuals have been the targets of Islamic Republic interference. To achieve its goals, Tehran uses its embassy in Paris, its lobbyists within the European Union and influence agents paid by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian secret services, who operate deep within the region, the report says.
The report goes on to point out that the objective of this interference is twofold: First, to put pressure on France regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, and encourage France to put pressure on Israel. Second, to bring “chaos, without waging war” to the heart of the western democracies, within the framework of the so-called “global jihad” strategy enshrined in the Islamic Republic’s constitution.
France is not the only democracy targeted by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
On July 31, 2025, 14 Western countries – including France, Great Britain, the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and others – signed a joint statement accusing Iran of conducting “a policy of assassination and kidnapping abroad”: its intelligence services are increasingly collaborating with international criminal organizations to target journalists, dissidents, Jewish citizens and current and former government officials in Europe and North America. The Islamic Republic of Iran relies in particular on North African drug trafficking groups for some of its nefarious activities and also readily recruits thugs from Eastern European countries who have settled in the West.
Dr. Amir Hamidi, an expert in global terrorism and former US diplomat, writes in the report: “The IRGC/QF presence in France is active, sophisticated and persistent. It is not enough to neutralize individual plots; the deeper challenge is to resist Tehran’s long-term efforts to weaken democratic resilience through fear, manipulation and covert coercion.”
“France must combine intelligence operations, law enforcement, diplomatic pressure, and community engagement in a sustained campaign,” he concludes. “The shadow war is here, and the cost of complacency will be measured in lives, freedoms and sovereignty.”
The report’s editorial coordination and direction were led by Emmanuel Razavi, journalist, author and Middle East specialist, and Jean-Marie Montali, journalist, writer and film director, both of whom contributed to the report along with the following analysts and specialists:
Frederic Encel, geopolitical analyst and Middle East specialist; Yves Bomati, historian of religions and specialist in the history of Iran; Hirbod Dehghani-Azar, international lawyer and president of the Norooz association; Hilda Dehghani-Schmit, human rights activist, Armand Shahbazi, investigative journalist and specialist in Iranian political history; Adrian Calamel, Middle Eastern historian and specialist in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Mathieu Ghadiri, former French counter-espionage agent infiltrated within Iranian intelligence services; Amir Hamidi, expert on global terrorism and former US diplomat; Olivier Guitta, geopolitical and terrorism expert focused on EMEA; and Nora Bussigny, investigative journalist and author.
