Iranian regime stepping up pressure on Iranians abroad, including in Netherlands

The Iranian regime is stepping up pressure on Iranians living abroad. This month, it launched a platform urging Iranian citizens to provide information on “enemies of the state” abroad. Iranians in the Netherlands appear on such sites, RTL Nieuws reports.

The new platform is called Alaj and was announced with great fanfare on state television. On the platform, Iranian citizens can add information to the profiles of Iranians living abroad, such as their ID numbers and addresses. Alaj reports having identified 600 individuals thanks to information provided to the platform.

Iranian activist Negin Nafissi has lived in the Netherlands for 16 years. She has faced threats on several occasions, but has recently been listed as a “traitor” on a pro-Iranian website for the first time. The site posted her photo with a warning of “consequences” for people who work with her. Nafissi found that very unsettling. “As if I were some kind of criminal,” she told RTL Nieuws. “That’s a new experience for me.”

The Iranian regime pressuring Iranians abroad is nothing new, but the Alaj platform is a new level of control, Ladan Rahbari, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam, told the broadcaster. “It’s a sort of public doxxing platform where people’s names, photos, and ID numbers are published without their consent,” Rahbari said, calling it outrageous.

Rahbari is currently researching the impact of such threats on Iranians. “People feel vulnerable, especially regarding their loved ones still living in Iran. After all, the regime also targets the families of dissidents.”