US policymakers, particularly under the current Trump administration (as of February 2026), consistently describe Iran as the world’s leading or foremost state sponsor of terrorism. This characterization has been a cornerstone of US policy toward Iran for decades, with Iran designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism by the US State Department since January 19, 1984—the longest-standing designation on the current list (which also includes Cuba, North Korea, and Syria).
But what does the data actually show? My old office — i.e., the Coordinator for Counter Terrorism, which is now known as the Bureau of Counter Terrorism — has published an annual report on international terrorism since 1990 that was titled, Patterns of Global Terrorism… The 1990 report, which was mandated by Congress, covered incidents for 1989. Patterns of Global Terrorism was replaced by a new title, Country Reports on Terrorism… That annual report covers every year from 2004 thru 2024 (note: the 2025 report is due in April 2026).
Although the State Department’s Statistical Annexes do not provide a specific sectarian breakdown (Sunni vs. Shia vs. other) of terrorist attacks, the overwhelming dominance of Sunni extremist groups in the perpetrator data suggests that roughly 90% or more of identified terrorist attacks between 2004-2023 were carried out by groups or individuals with ties to Sunni extremist ideologies, particularly Salafi jihadism. Based on the available data from 2004-2023, approximately 85-95% of terrorist attacks in the State Department reports were carried out by Sunni extremist groups or individuals. The top perpetrator groups each year (Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda affiliates, al-Shabaab, TTP, etc.) were all Sunni. In other words, these are groups with no affiliation or support from Iran. In fact, these groups view Shias, not just Iran, as heretics and target them.
Shia groups like Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias are typically not included in these statistics as they primarily target military forces (which may be excluded under the definition of terrorism used). The Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) in Yemen is the main Shia-affiliated group appearing in recent reports, but represents a small fraction of total attacks.
A French think tank — FONDAPOL — reports similar results, only their timeline covers 1979 thru 2024. From 1979 to April 2024, the top 5 deadliest groups were responsible for 81.8% of all Islamist terrorist attack victims:
Al-Qaeda (14,856 deaths) – Sunni
Taliban (71,965 deaths) – Sunni
Islamic State/ISIS (69,641 deaths) – Sunni
Boko Haram (26,081 deaths) – Sunni
Al-Shabaab (21,784 deaths) – Sunni
Despite these facts, Israel persists in pushing the lie that Iran represents the major threat of terrorism. I addressed that lie in my piece published almost two years ago using the data posted by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Note — This data covers the period from 2000 thru April of 2024. The dataset excludes the October 7, 2023 attack. Here are the highlights:
It is quite clear that “terrorism” attributed to Palestinians has been trending downwards since 2003. Not my numbers, those are Israeli Government numbers. It is noteworthy that the high-water mark of Palestinian violence in the five-year span — 2000 to 2005 — is commonly known as the Second Intifada.
The number of Israelis killed and wounded is equally revealing. A total of 1,552 Israelis died during that 24- year period and 5,595 were wounded. A close look at the data shows that 76% of the deaths occurred during the five-year period marking the Second Intifada and a whopping 92% of the wounded happened during that same period.
The public hysteria in the West about Hamas terrorism is not supported by the data — only 15% of the attacks during the last 24 years were attributed to Hamas, acting alone or in concert with another Palestinian entity. I am not suggesting that Hamas is a pacifist organization — it is not — but neither is it a political entity engaged in unrelenting violence.
While it is true that Hamas and Hezbollah have fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past 25 years, very few of those have caused civilian casualties… The death toll from rockets specifically is approximately 50-75 people killed over the entire 2001-2025 period, rather than thousands.
By contrast, Israel has killed 11,200-11,500 Palestinians between 2000 and October 6, 2023. Since October 7 until the present, the Israeli military has killed 73,000+ Palestinians killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. In January 2026, an Israeli military official accepted the Gaza Health Ministry figure of over 71,000 killed by direct Israeli fire.
If the United States is genuinely concerned about rooting out the supporters of terrorism, then it should be threatening the Gulf Arabs… Saudi Arabia and Qatar in particular. The point I am making is that the United States is using a false charge of terrorism by Iran as a pretext for launching an unprovoked attack. This is not only wrong, it is evil in its purest form.
Reprinted with permission from Sonar21.