The Islamic Republic of Iran has spent decades building a weapon more subtle than missiles and more difficult to detect than drones. It is an influence machine, a sprawling ecosystem of state media, intelligence services, diplomats, lobbyists, academics, commentators, social media influencers, and political intermediaries designed to shape how Western governments understand Iran. Its objectives are clear: protect the regime, undermine its opponents, fracture Western unity, and create the appearance of legitimate international support for Tehran.

The evidence increasingly points to an ecosystem rather than a handful of eccentric sympathizers. The operation ranges from foreigners invited to Iran on state-sponsored trips to people whose contacts with Iranian officials have brought them into Western political and media circles. The crucial distinction is between documented relationships, allegations, and assumptions. That distinction makes the genuinely documented cases all the more worthy of scrutiny.