Iranian prosecutors have expanded a ban on dog walking to more than 20 cities across the country, building on similar restrictions first introduced in the capital Tehran in 2019.
Their accounts document a sprawling overseas network operating under direct orders from the Supreme Leader’s office and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence arm well out of step with common diplomatic practice.
“Every embassy has a list. People to watch. People to engage. People to silence,” an Iranian former diplomatic employee told Iran International.
“It’s not foreign policy—it’s field execution,” another told Iran International. “The people sent abroad are on assignment, not appointment.”
Their account outlines a foreign service shaped not by diplomacy but by ideology, surveillance and illicit finance.
According to these individuals—whose names are withheld for their safety—Iran’s diplomatic missions double as intelligence gathering hubs tasked with tracking dissidents, surveilling student communities and delivering cash and equipment under the protection of diplomatic immunity.
UK authorities detained eight men in May, including three charged under the National Security Act for surveilling Iran International journalists on behalf of Tehran between August 2024 and February 2025.
It was not clear whether the charges related in any way to the Iranian embassy in London.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounced the charges as politically motivated, but former officials say such actions are core to the Islamic Republic’s overseas agenda.
Iran’s embassies maintain the outward structure of any diplomatic mission—ambassadors, attachés and advisers—but according to the sources, the roles often serve as cover.
“A person listed as a translator might actually coordinate funds for proxy groups,” said one of the former diplomats. “Titles are just for appearances.”
In one high-profile case, Iranian diplomat Asadollah Asadi used his status to transport explosives intended for an opposition rally in Paris. His 2021 conviction in Belgium exposed how far such dual roles can go.
Another ex-staffer recalled colleagues arriving in Istanbul and Baku with briefcases of undeclared dollars. “They know no one will search their bags,” he said.
Cultural attachés, especially those linked to the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization, are said to organize religious events abroad that double as screening grounds for potential recruits.
Germany shuttered the Islamic Center of Hamburg in July over its ties to Tehran and what the Interior Ministry called promotion of extremism and antisemitism.
The diplomatic corps itself, sources say, is dominated by the sons of clerics and system insiders.
“Your father is a Friday prayer leader? Your uncle is close to the Supreme Leader? You’re in,” said one.
Posts rarely align with professional background; language skills and experience are often secondary to loyalty.
Though often expelled or exposed, the structure endures. Loyal staff are rotated across continents with little interruption.
“Each post is a mission. If you complete it to the system’s satisfaction, you’re held in reserve for the next,” one former diplomat said.
The network’s reach is enhanced by front organizations. The Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation has been linked to Hezbollah financing. The Iranian Red Crescent has faced accusations of being used by Quds Force operatives for weapons transport. IRGC members have admitted posing as aid workers during the Bosnian war.
IRIB outlets—Press TV, Al-Alam, Hispan TV—have functioned as propaganda arms and intelligence fronts. France expelled one of their journalists in 2011 for spreading state messaging.
The Iranian Red Crescent and the IRGC officially denied these remarks, saying that any such actions were unauthorized and not representative of their organizations.
Despite the rhetoric of resistance, many live in luxury. One former ambassador’s Paris residence cost over €40,000 per month.
“They send their kids to secular schools while preaching Islamic values,” said another. Leaked records show senior envoys receiving up to $12,000 monthly, with generous stipends and ceremonial budgets.
“It’s both reward and insulation,” an ex-diplomatic employee said. “The system buys loyalty with luxury—and distances them from the reality of ordinary Iranians.”
What emerges is not a diplomatic corps, but a global extension of Iran’s security state—trained, titled, and deployed to safeguard the Islamic Republic, not represent it.
The ban has now spread to at least 25 cities, including Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamadan, Kerman, Boroujerd, Robat Karim, Lavasanat, and Golestan, according to a report by Tehran-based reformist-leaning outlet Faraz News on Sunday.
While no national legislation has been passed, judicial authorities are enforcing the ban through local directives and police orders, citing various articles of Iran’s Penal Code and Constitution.
These include Article 638 on public morality, Article 688 on threats to public health, and Article 40 of the Constitution, which prohibits harm to others.
Several prosecutors across various provinces announced the new bans over the weekend.
Kashmar, a city in northeastern Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province, is among the latest to implement the ban.
“Dog walking has been prohibited in this county in order to safeguard public hygiene and the physical and psychological safety of the public,” the city’s public prosecutor said on Sunday.
Khalkhal’s public prosecutor Mozaffar Rezaei in northwest Iran’s Ardabil province announced the ban came into effect on June 6. “Offenders will face consequences if they are seen walking dogs in parks, public spaces, or carrying them on their vehicles,” Rezaei said in remarks to Islamic Republic News Agency (ILNA) published Sunday.
"In addition to the financial and physical damages, religious rulings and cultural considerations must be taken into account, as this practice reflects the promotion of a Western lifestyle," he added.
In Ilam, western Iran, authorities imposed a dog walking ban on Saturday, warning that anyone seen walking dogs in parks, public areas, or transporting them in vehicles would face legal action. Police have also been instructed to impound vehicles involved in violations, according to provincial judicial chief Omran Ali Mohammadi.
In Isfahan, central Iran, the ban was announced last week by Mohammad Mousavian, the city’s public prosecutor who also ordered police to impound vehicles carrying dogs and shut down pet shops and unauthorized veterinary clinics.
A group of animal rights activists gathered outside the governor’s office in Isfahan on Sunday, calling for an end to what they described as municipal dog culling.
