By Staff Writer, Iran Probe
In recent months, police and security officials in some European countries, such as the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria, have reported that the Iranian regime is using local people or Iranian agents to spy and spread lies against opposition figures in these countries.
Agents of the notorious Iranian Intelligence Ministry, who are responsible for the regime’s overseas operations, direct their agents in Europe and the United States from inside Iran.
One of these individuals is Ebrahim Khodabandeh, who specifically directs agents paid by the Iranian regime in Albania, such as a man named Aldo Sulollari.
Aldo Sulollari is an Albanian national who identifies himself publicly as a journalist. He is increasingly drawn to activities targeting the People’s Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) members living in Ashraf III in Albania. While he presents himself as an independent advocate for families supposedly affected by MEK, a deeper look reveals troubling associations and motivations behind his actions and slanders against Iranians living in Ashraf.
Investigations and disclosures indicate that Sulollari, his wife and even his mother are largely used as tools for the Iranian regime’s propaganda efforts in Albania.
Far from a principled person, he actively engages in orchestrated events designed explicitly to discredit and demonize MEK members. These activities often involve staged gatherings and propagandistic initiatives held in several Albanian cities, frequently leveraging emotionally charged claims about families.
However, despite portraying himself as genuinely concerned about families affected by MEK membership, Sulollari notably lacks direct experience or firsthand interaction with actual MEK members in Ashraf. Instead, his entire narrative is fabricated upon instructions directly ordered to him from MOIS notorious agents. Chief among them is Ibrahim Khodabandeh, a well-documented operative of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) based in Iran. Khodabandeh, who openly works under the Iranian regime’s directive, consistently feeds biased narratives and misinformation to individuals such as Sulollari to advance Tehran’s agenda abroad. Indeed, Sulollari himself has publicly acknowledged receiving guidance and instructions from Khodabandeh, revealing a deeply troubling dependence on regime-linked figures for his vile propaganda activities on behalf of the MOIS.
This troubling admission confirms Sulollari’s role as an active participant in a coordinated intelligence-driven campaign. The broader aim of these operations is transparent: to create a negative perception of MEK in Albania, thus facilitating Tehran’s broader strategic objectives in Europe and silencing opposition voices critical of Iran’s suppressive domestic and international policies.
Observers and experts familiar with Iran’s international influence operations see Sulollari’s activities as classic tactics of information warfare. The Iranian regime, known for employing such proxies and mercenary-like figures across various countries, often uses local intermediaries to mask direct state involvement and lend a veneer of credibility to their narratives.
Sulollari confesses he has been dismissed from an Albanian diaspora TV in USA, mainly for his links with the MOIS.
However, resorting to lowly and uncultured persons for disinformation campaign against MEK in Albania, shows how much the Iranian regime is loathed in Albania that the respectable dignified general public is distancing itself from dirt of the regime of executions.
In conclusion, Aldo Sulollari’s subservient to the MOIS represent a clear example of how authoritarian regimes like Iran buy and exploit individuals to propagate harmful agendas against their democratic opposition under deceptive guises.
