22 nations urge Iran to halt attacks on their soil, point to Guard Corps role

WASHINGTON, United States — WASHINGTON — Twenty-two countries, including the United States and several European states, called on Iran to immediately end attacks targeting individuals on their territory, according to a joint statement released on Tuesday. The signatories said Iranian security agencies have recruited international and local criminal networks in Europe, North America and Australia to carry out the operations. The statement identified Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence directorate and the Quds Force, which oversees external operations, as responsible for assassination plots and malicious acts against opposition figures, journalists, Jewish and Israeli communities, and other targets. The 22 governments said they were determined to defend their territory and citizens against what they described as those threats. The joint statement also accused Iran of being behind a series of attacks on Jewish communities and on Iranian and American journalists that had been claimed by a group calling itself the "True Owners Movement." It said such actions undermine national sovereignty and international norms. The statement did not specify any new measures, and it remained unclear whether additional steps by the signatories were planned.