tional waters, launching missiles at foreign states, funding illegal militias and trafficking weapons all over the Middle East. No other regime in the world does this. Iran’s point is that international laws don’t apply to it.
Second, Iran wants to deter any protests during the current lead-up to the Biden administration. Iran killed the wrestler because he had protested. It kidnapped and murdered the journalist to send a message to dissidents. The message is that it can kill any dissident, anywhere. It has hunted them down in Europe as well, and it has had almost no pushback from European countries.
Iran killed the journalist days before a major economic conference full of pro-Iran sycophants was supposed to take place. The regime timed this on purpose: It wants to see what the reaction will be. There has been some pushback, so now Iran knows that kidnapping journalists and hanging them may receive some critique.
Iran also kidnapped a British-Australian academic and then traded her for its own detainees abroad. The Islamic Republic is showing that it can kidnap academics, hang journalists and athletes, and ultimately, its extensive lobbying arm abroad will not turn on it.
The message to dissidents is that they should be in fear. Iran wants them quiet while the new US administration comes into office. No more embarrassing protests or crackdowns. Iran’s people generally abhor the regime. However, they know that Western governments won’t help them.
They have been asking for help for years, going back to the protests that erupted after elections in 2009. The protesters hoped the Obama administration would do something; instead, they got the cold shoulder and saw the regime get welcomed by a Washington eager for a “deal” and a change in US policy that would see the US seek to work with Iran.
Iran’s calculation now is that dissidents won’t operate from Iraq or Turkey, and they likely will live in fear throughout Europe. This is laying the groundwork for Tehran’s next move, which will be more military escalation in the region and outreach to further bond itself with allies in Turkey and Russia, seeking to counterbalance the US and also work with China.
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