Religious Extremism

Iran Links New Nuke Deal to Removing IRGC from Terror Black List

March 29, 2022

Negotiators for Iran's Islamic theocracy are pushing for the US' removal of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the State Department's Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) watch list in exchange for reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that limits Iran's nuclear program.
Turkey Exports Islamism’s Ideology & Political Activism Worldwide

March 23, 2022

NATO-member Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate commands a multi-billion-dollar budget and a mandate to use religious soft power for the country’s foreign policy objectives, using a combination of mosque-building, heritage trips, parochial school-funding, and media platforms to promote radical Islamist ideology and Islamist political activism worldwide, with Western Europe and the United States included as targets for exporting Turkey’s Islamo-nationalist values and interests.
Swedish Court Decision takes aim at EU Citizens Engaging in Terrorism

March 14, 2022

Swedish courts convicted a 49-year-old female citizen of war crimes for helping to enlist her 12-year-old son as a child soldier in the Islamic State (IS) by taking him to Syria and failing to prevent his forced conscription and death, with the court case viewed as a possible landmark for European states' move to try their returning citizens for crimes under international law that were committed as foreign fighters part of the IS caliphate.
Bangladesh's Islamist Extremism Problem Shows Al-Qaeda Resilience in South Asia

March 13, 2022

State intelligence and counter-terrorism agencies in Bangladesh are warning about the expanded recruitment and training for operations by Ansar al-Islam Bangladesh (AIB), the local franchise of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), with AIB plans to hit soft targets whose progressive and inclusivist agendas are deemed incompatible with Islamist principles.
Turkey's Regime & Syrian Opposition Create Educational Networks

March 08, 2022

Ideological and financial ties between the Grand Mufti of Syria elected by the country's Islamist opposition groups and NATO-member Turkey's ruling Islamist regime are expanding to include transborder education networks for schools from primary grades to university, with the Ankara government's recent authorization for the Syrian Grand Mufti to set up educational institutions in Turkey that condemn the West and call for the elimination of Israel.
Turkey's President Calls on Muslims in Europe to Mobilize Through Institutions

March 04, 2022

Turkey's Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met in Ankara with a delegation from his party's transnational political organization, the Union of International Democrats (UID), calling on them to mobilize Muslim communities across Europe to support Turkey's political Islamism at home and in Europe, with the UID serving as part of a larger institutional network of Ankara-funded entities for Turkey's influence-building in European politics, economics, and society.
Treasury Sanctions Against Houthi Financiers Reveal Global Networks of Islamist Extremist Financing

March 02, 2022

The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on individuals and corporations designated for providing material assistance, financial sponsorship, and technological support to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and their Yemeni Houthi clients, revealing the global scope of Islamist extremist operations, as the individuals and entities stretched from the United States to the Caribbean islands, Turkey, Iran and Yemen.
UN Report Warns Afghanistan Emerges as a Magnet for International Islamist Extremism

February 25, 2022

The United Nations (UN) Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team reported to the UN Security Council that Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is emerging as a magnet for international jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda and IS, whose fighters are moving to the South Asian country as a hospitable training space for jihadist operations, as well as a hub for regional narcotics trafficking.
Bangladesh Faces Growing Islamist Extremist Pressures

February 22, 2022

Hafezat-e-Islam, an Islamist extremist organization in Bangladesh is finding success in pressuring the government to restrict press and speech freedoms by carrying out vigilante violence against religious minority properties, and in securing government support for Islamist education, all part of the stated goal of establishing an Islamic state governed by sharia law in the world’s eighth most populous nation.
Spanish Police & Europol Against Islamist Threat in Spain

February 22, 2022

Spain’s National Police and the the Counter Terrorism Centre of the European Union’s law enforcement agency, Europol, announced the recent arrest of five suspects affiliated with IS activities in Spain, including illicit financing and radicalization-recruitment activities that reflect the transnational features of extremist Islamist networks.