Iran Using Criminals in Sweden to Target Israeli, Jewish Interests

Mossad, the Israeli spy agency, carried out an investigation alongside European counterparts after an explosive device, reportedly a hand grenade, was found inside the grounds of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January.

It was destroyed by the Swedish national bomb squad.

Swedish media also reported a suspected shooting incident near Israel’s embassy in Stockholm in May.

On Thursday, Sweden’s domestic security agency accused Iran of using criminal networks as proxy to target Israeli and/or Jewish interests in Sweden.

Iranian dissidents and members of the Iranian diaspora are also reportedly among the targets of the Islamic Republic inside the Scandinavian country.

"The security-threatening activities of the Iranian regime and its security services have also targeted representatives of other states, including Israel, that Iran regards as enemies of its regime. Such activities could be carried out with a view to harming Israeli and Jewish interests, targets, and activities in Sweden," the Swedish Security Service said in a news release.

The news release identified Iran, in addition to Russia and China, as the "greatest security threats to Sweden."

The head of Sweden’s security service's counterintelligence, Daniel Stenling, raised the accusations at a news conference Thursday, according to Reuters.

Israeli media, including the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post, reported that an organized crime ring in Sweden called Foxtrot and rival gang Rumba were behind separate attacks, all under Iran's direction, according to Mossad.

According to Israeli media, Foxtrot is one of the largest criminal organizations in Sweden and operates in other European countries as well. The gang is known for murders and large-scale drug trafficking.

Foxtrot's head, Rawa Majid, a Swedish citizen of Kurdish origin, is alleged to have been arrested in Iran for criminal activity, then recruited for terror, and allegedly released to carry out terror on Tehran's behalf. He is wanted by the Interpol.

Rumba, headed by Ismail Abdo, was behind the May 17 gunshots near Israel’s embassy in Sweden, according to Israeli media citing the Israeli Intelligence agency.

Alex Selsky, an advisor to the Middle East Forum and former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Iran International from Israel, that Iran's use of criminal networks to carry out terror on European soil, shows two things: Iran's determination to commit acts of terror, and that it needs to pay for recruitment.

"I think they don't have enough structured operation, which might show that they don't really have such a big support. They just buy it. They buy the operation," said Selsky.

Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Iran International that while he's not surprised, he is concerned.

"It points to the lack of deterrence in the West with respect to Iran. The Islamic Republic feels confident enough that it could get away with literally murder, in trying to harm or assassinate Western nationals on European soil without it paying a significant price," said Brodsky.

He said Iran's use of criminal gangs in the West is the modus operandi of the Iranian regime.

"Plausible deniability," said Brodsky "to try to shield the system from blame whenever these plots are busted or God forbid, a plot is successful."

Brodsky said either Iran's Intelligence Ministry typically or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) link up with these criminal organizations.

Both analysts, Brodsky and Selsky, said Thursday's revelations are more proof of the need to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist entity on the continent.

"What else we must show to Europeans to wake them up?" said Selsky.

Israeli media reported that Foxtrot and Rumba receive funding directly from Iran, and said Mossad believes Iran is taking advantage of rising antisemitism.