The expert: “Incredibly dangerous” • Is singled out after embassy acts in Sweden • Concern among exiled Iranians
In recent times, several crimes in and outside of Sweden have been linked to the Islamic regime in Iran. Several security experts fear an increase due to the tense situation between Iran and Israel, and the conflict in the Middle East.
Iran has been singled out by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad for, among other things, hiring gang criminals to carry out the attacks on Israeli embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen. Recently, the US Department of Justice released documents that singled out Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as planning to assassinate Trump before the presidential election.
“An upward trend”
According to Iran expert Arvin Khoshnood, Iran has a long history of using agents abroad to achieve political ends.
He gives several examples of similar approaches in other countries, among others in Germany where a former president of the motorcycle gang Hells Angels has been charged with several plots against synagogues in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to German authorities, the attacks were carried out on behalf of Iran.
According to Khoshnood, for some years now there has been an increase in the number of crimes that could be linked to Iran.
– What is known about the regime’s terrorist operations in Sweden decreased during the mid-90s, at least in Europe. But now we can see an upward trend with the latest acts, says Arvin Khoshnood to TV4 Nyheterna.
The increase in organized crime in Sweden has also paved the way for the Iranian regime to use gang criminals to achieve its own goals abroad.
Concerns among the opposition
In addition to Israeli or Jewish targets, criminals have also carried out acts against individuals who may pose a threat to Iran. Among other Iranian exiles critical of the regime, he explains.
– There is great concern among exiled Iranians. There is no oppositionist I have spoken to who does not feel a sense of concern, says Khoshnood.
He adds that Iran uses criminals even inside the country in recruiting for its armed forces to crack down on demonstrations and regime critics. This in exchange for shorter prison sentences and other benefits.
– It’s about spreading fear, which makes you think twice before criticizing the regime, which results in a policy of appeasement.
– It is incredibly dangerous.
Can contribute to increased crime
In addition to the threat to Jewish targets and exiled Iranians, Khoshnood points to another security threat to Sweden. He believes that Iran’s use of gang criminals can also contribute to increased crime in Sweden by giving the gangs increased resources.
– An important working method that the police use in the fight against organized crime is to take resources away from the gangs. But now we have a foreign power with enormous resources fattening the gangs.
This allows the gangs to keep their networks alive, he notes.
– It is incredibly dangerous.
Iran has dismissed accusations that the missions were carried out on behalf of the country.
Some known incidents with connection to Iran
In May, shots were fired near the Israeli embassy at Östermalm in Stockholm. The intelligence service Mossad singled out the Foxtrot network as acting on behalf of Iran. It has not been confirmed by Swedish authorities, but according to Säpo, Iran is recruiting Swedish criminal gangs to carry out acts of violence in Sweden.
In early October shots were fired at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. According to information to SVT the criminal Foxtrot network is said to be behind the deed.
Two secret agentsr connected to Iran’s military intelligence service in 2021 should have mapped three designated murder victims in Sweden, according to Echo.
A Swedish-Iraqi citizen was sentenced in 2022 for having spied on exiled Iranians in Sweden on behalf of Iran.
A driving license app in Farsiwhich appeared to come from the Swedish Transport Administration, was revealed in 2020 to be a tool for the regime’s espionage against exiled Iranians. The Iranian state is singled out as guilty, according to one report.
Also our neighboring country Denmark has been affected. At the beginning of October, an explosion occurred against the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, the night after the shooting against the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. According to the prosecutor, there is a connection between the crime against the embassies. Three young Swedes were arrested, and two of them, a 16- and a 19-year-old, were later detained for the crime.
Embassy of Israel in Brussels was attacked with two grenades in May this year by criminals recruited by Iran, according to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, reports The Wall Street Journal.
A court in Paris in May charged a known drug dealer, who was on probation after serving a 10-year murder sentence, for plotting to kill Jews in Germany and France on behalf of Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The FBI has in early November singled out Iranian agents for plotting to assassinate Donald Trump before the presidential election. A high-ranking member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard suspected of having given instructions to an assassin in the United States.
A former president of the motorcycle gang Hells Angels in the German city of Mönchengladbach fled to Iran in connection with being charged with gang murder in 2021. The following year, he orchestrated two plots against synagogues in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia from Tehran. According to German authorities, the attacks were carried out on behalf of Iran.
An Iranian-British journalist who works for the Persian-language news channel Iran International was stabbed in March 2024 on his way to work. He survived the attack linked to Iran.
In Spain, a top politician was shot in the face in broad daylight at the end of last year. The politician, who publicly supports the exiled Iranian opposition group the People’s Mujahedin of Iran, MEK, survived the assassination attempt. Six people have been arrested in connection with the assassination attempt, including the man who is suspected of having fired the shots, a French citizen with a Tunisian background.
US Attorneys last year indicted three members of an Eastern European criminal organization they linked to Iran for plotting to kill an Iranian-American journalist living in the United States.