Visiting the Ayatollahs Part 3: Tadhg Hickey and the Eire-IRI Connection

Despite being the world’s biggest backer of terrorism, the Islamic Republic receives unexpected rhetorical in-person support from various Western sources. Part one of this mini-series examined Neturei Karta (NK), while part two focused on Code Pink. Part three looks at various Irish political activists and government officials who seem to have a fondness for the mullahs and their terrorist proxies.

In early June 2024, Tadhg Hickey, an Irish comedian, accepted an invitation to participate in a Tehran film festival ostensibly centered on Gaza and Palestinian activism. While there, he collaborated with local journalists to produce what he called “anti-imperialist content.” While visiting Iran, Hickey also took to social media to showcase his activities, like “doing workshops and Palestine roundtables.”

Asked by the Irish Independent, a daily newspaper, about the optics of his visiting Iran as an entertainment figure while the Islamic Republic persecutes dissidents like rapper Toomaj Salehi, Hickey said that he was “not going to do puff pieces for the government [of Iran].”  Rather, he “wanted to speak to ordinary Iranians … destroyed in many cases by, you know, the US and its sanctions.” However, Hickey ended up taking to the streets—not to protest the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses, but to chant “Death to Israel” in Farsi. Hickey weakly tried to defend his selective protest, claiming, “It wasn’t like I’d hit the streets, like trying to drum up anti-Israel sentiment, although that’s definitely on the streets. It was just a bit of a mess around.”

Hickey tried to portray his behavior as more than just virtue-signaling. Regarding the ongoing war in Gaza started by Iran-backed Hamas, he declared, “I’m talking to Palestinians here in Ireland who are shocked that the West would allow this level of horror to be rained down upon their civilian population.” Hickey concluded, “I feel like I’m doing good work or meaningful work that means something to other people,” while remaining silent about the 1,200 Israelis massacred on October 7.

For the Islamic Republic and its supporters, Hickey’s visit to Iran, lack of meaningful criticism towards the Islamic Republic’s human rights abuses against women and minorities, and anti-Israel views have elevated him to the point where the regime embraces him enthusiastically, making him a favorite of the regime’s media apparatus. In a March interview with “The Conversation,” a podcast of the Iran-funded Press TV, Hickey expounded on his background, political views, and the Israel-Hamas conflict. Hickey, who described himself as an Irish Republican who supports Irish unification and Palestinian self-determination, described his early political inclinations and how they shaped his later activism.

“I have always felt that it’s one of the most bizarrely easy conflicts to understand, which is in direct opposition to the key Israeli claim,” he asserted, reducing the issue to “a land grab” and “settler colonialism.” He went on to accuse Israel of “decades of oppression, murder, mayhem, second-class citizenship, apartheid.” 

Despite a significant backlash against his behavior in Iran, Hickey remains defiant. He recounted how some have tried to get his gigs canceled and mentioned a “Zionist Witch” who claimed to put a curse on him. Regarding his future gigs, the Irish comedian stated, “In an ideal world, I would love to tour places where it is news to me that someone from the West has an anti-imperialist perspective and somebody shining a light on the hypocrisy and atrocities of the American empire.” 

During the 2nd Sobh International Media Event, which purportedly aimed to showcase television producers from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting World Service and provide a platform for local and international artists “to create art and foster cultural transformations,” Hickey discussed political humor and media influence regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim News Agency’s cultural correspondent.

Hickey claimed that the motto of colonialists has always been “divide and conquer,” but events like the 2nd Sobh International Media Event can “thwart their scheme.” On the Israel-Palestine conflict, he suggested, “Western media often tries to separate Palestine from the rest of the world. However, festivals like this brought everyone together for a common cause.”

Hickey’s mix of tedious anti-Israel activism, remarkable lack of historical comprehension, and one-sided political grandstanding is by no means unique.

Such views are increasingly aligned with many public officials in the Republic of Ireland. The country is increasingly acquiring a reputation as a hotbed of anti-Israel activity that has only escalated since October 7—the single worst day in the history of the modern state of Israel. “For years, alongside the rise in support for the Palestinians, antisemitism has been brewing in Ireland,” said Maurice Cohen, the head of Ireland’s tiny 2,500-strong Jewish community.  “October 7 simply brought antisemitism from under the table to above the table, and since then, the combination of anti-Israel sentiment, antisemitism, and antizionism has become the trend leading the normative public discourse.”

Anti-Israel views in Ireland were strongly forged by the longstanding close ties between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) terrorist group in Northern Ireland and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) during the 1970s and 1980s. The same PLO that generously assisted the IRA also contributed to the formation and training of the IRGC, which the U.S. and more recently, Canada, have designated as a terrorist organization. 

In early May 1994, Britain warned Iran to sever all ties with the Provisional IRA after intelligence reports indicated that Tehran had offered the terrorist organization both arms and financial assistance. British government officials emphasized the urgency of halting these budding steps by the Iranian intelligence service, VEVAK, to forge an operational relationship with the IRA. The timing was critical, as signs of a renewed IRA terrorist offensive in Northern Ireland were emerging, coupled with diminishing hopes that the IRA would accept the Downing Street peace declaration from the previous December.

The allegations were serious, suggesting that the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security had proposed a quid pro quo arrangement with the IRA. “We are convinced that there have been contacts. We take the gravest view of any contact which might assist or encourage terrorism,” stated a British foreign office spokesman. This declaration followed the summoning of Gholamreza Ansari, Iran’s then-charge d’affaires in London, to the UK Foreign Office, where he was told that all terrorist contacts must be terminated immediately.

British intelligence sources revealed that an IRA representative had visited Tehran in November 1993, seeking weapons and financial support. Historically, the IRA had relied on Libya for such resources. Still, as those supplies dwindled, Iran appeared as a potential new source, allegedly offering a “shopping list” of weapons, explosives, and cash. In return, the IRA was reportedly asked to assassinate three prominent Iranian dissidents, including former Iranian president Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, who was then residing in France. Although the IRA purportedly declined the offer, the British government publicized the accusation to thwart any revival of the deal.

Additionally, contacts between Sinn Fein, the IRA’s political wing, and Iranian intelligence had roots dating back to the early 1980s and were initially conducted openly. In 1981, a senior Iranian cleric with intelligence ties attended the funeral of an IRA hunger striker in Belfast. By 1986, Iran’s embassy in the Netherlands offered asylum to two escaped IRA prisoners. These interactions became more clandestine, with British intelligence monitoring secret meetings across European capitals between senior VEVAK officials and IRA representatives.

Irish affection for Tehran and its terrorist proxies goes beyond radical activists, extending to prominent politicians.

In February 2024, the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Ireland welcomed Irish guests to fete the 45th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic Revolution. Kazem Sharif Kazemi, Iran’s chargé d’affaires, hailed Iran’s “National Day,” dancing around the inconvenient truth of how the revolution crushed the rights of Iranian women and minorities. Meanwhile, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, the chair of the lower house of Ireland’s parliament, paid glowing tribute to Tehran’s “cordial and historic relations” with Ireland, ignoring Iran’s leadership in fueling global instability.

In another example of sweeping Iran’s human rights record under the rug, in May 2024, Irish President Michael D. Higgins, a staunch human rights advocate, visited the Iranian embassy in Dublin to offer condolences on the passing of President Ebrahim Raisi, dubbed “The Butcher of Tehran” for his role in the regime’s executions of thousands of political prisoners in the late 1980s.

Last month, Irish left-wing pro-Palestinian activist Clare Daly lost her seat in the European Parliament, ending her tenure which was characterized by scathing criticism of Israel, while overlooking Iran’s oppressive theocracy. Daly falsely accused Israel of “destabilizing the region” and committing genocide while dismissed any notion of Iran’s aggression as a “fairytale.” Her silence following Iran’s missile and UAV attack on Israel in April revealed a consistent pattern of selective indignation, solidifying her reputation as a champion of double standards in the European Parliament.

In April 2021, Daly and like-minded MEP Mick Wallace promoted the Islamic Republic-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) militia coalition. Daly, wearing a hijab, stated that the PMF “upholds international law,” failing to mention the organization’s engagement, as described by human rights groups, in “massacres on a sectarian basis” and “forcibly disappearing civilians.” 

In November 2022, Wallace criticized widespread anti-regime protests in Iran following the tragic murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. Echoing the ayatollahs’ propaganda, Wallace lamented “violence and murders by some protesters” and the “untold damage and destruction” they supposedly caused. Wallace stated that such civil unrest “would not be tolerated anywhere” while glossing over the brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces that left an estimated 300 people dead, including 40 children, and led to 14,000 arrests.

Wallace also decried a supposed “campaign of propaganda and destabilization” against Iran. He asserted that “Iran is under attack” and that “the media assault is intense.” Fellow Irish MEP Frances Fitzgerald rightly highlighted the absurdity of Wallace’s position, stating it was “shameful to see members of the European Parliament supporting regimes that kill, persecute and commit the most horrific crimes against their own peoples.”

Wallace’s affection for Iran extends to that regime’s top militant proxy, Hezbollah. In April 2021, Wallace reposted on X an image of Hezbollah’s new supermarket chain, praising the terrorist group for “helping poor people to survive in #Lebanon” and suggesting that the EU and the U.S. “won’t like that” because it was “not so neoliberal.”

A year before, in September 2020, a group of Irish terrorists found themselves in hot water after seeking arms from Hezbollah. These former Provisional IRA members decided to renew old friendships with Hezbollah to bankroll and arm the New IRA (NIRA). Their shopping list included advanced bomb-making technology from Iran and Lebanon, designed to destroy police armored vehicles in Northern Ireland into Swiss cheese.

MI5, the British security service, had been watching closely, and their patience paid off with the arrest of nine NIRA members, including two women. Among them was Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, a Palestinian who faced charges of preparatory acts of terrorism. Bassalat’s claim to fame at the time was allegedly briefing the NIRA on Palestinian affairs at a meeting.

Security sources reported that two in custody had mingled at a ceremony in the Iranian embassy in Dublin, honoring the late IRGC Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani. This event also paid tribute to IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, showcasing the friendship between the NIRA, Iran, and Hezbollah. “No weapons from Hezbollah had been received although they were on the verge of concluding some form of agreement, but now the whole thing has been shattered,” an intelligence source told the National.

The propensity to cozy up to the Islamic Republic of Iran and its terrorist proxies by Hickey and other Irish officials and political activists endures. Whether it’s Hickey boasting about his Iranian escapades, Clare Daly and Mick Wallace’s vociferous support for Iranian-backed militias, or Seán Ó Fearghaíl’s tributes to Tehran, Irish politicians and activists continue to demonstrate selective outrage and ignore Iran’s bloody record of terrorism and regional destabilization.