Iran is behind a string of terror attacks by criminal networks on Israeli embassies in Europe since October 7, the Mossad intelligence agency said in a rare statement on Thursday.
Sweden’s Säpo security service confirmed the report in a press conference later in the day, saying that Iran has been for several years carrying out activities inside the country that threaten security.
There is a significant risk that Iran will strike targets in Sweden again, according to Daniel Stenling, head of Säpo counterintelligence.
The Israeli spy agency opened up an investigation alongside European counterparts after an explosive device, said to be a hand grenade, was found inside the grounds of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm in January and destroyed by the Swedish national bomb squad.
After interrogating the suspects and examining forensic evidence, the investigators concluded that the Foxtrot organized crime ring in Sweden was behind the attack, at Iran’s behest, according to the Mossad.
Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid — known as “the Kurdish Fox” — has been working with Iran for months, Israel alleged. He was recruited by Iranian agents after he fled to Iran from Turkey in September of last year, pursued by international law enforcement and Iraqi security forces.
He was arrested by Iran and recruited to plan a string of attacks in Europe against Jewish and Israeli targets, according to the Mossad.
There have been dozens of Iran-backed terror plots against Jewish and Israeli targets uncovered in recent months, said the Israeli agency, many of which use local criminal networks.
On May 17, Swedish police heard gunshots late at night near the Israeli embassy. They detained a 14-year-old boy in connection to the shooting and made known that the Israeli embassy was the target.
That shooting was carried out by the Rumba crime group, said the Mossad, headed by Majid’s rival Ismail Abdo and also directed by Iran.
“Iran operates many criminal organizations in Sweden and Europe in general, while taking advantage of the relative advantage of each and sometimes the rivalry between them,” said the Israeli statement.
Foxtrot and Rumba receive funding and direction directly from Iran, the Mossad alleged, and are closely monitored by European intelligence.
The spy agency also accused Iran of trying to take advantage of rising antisemitism in Europe while avoiding direct responsibility for attacks.
“Iran has previously used violence in other countries in Europe with the aim of silencing critical voices and perceived threats to its own regime,” said a statement released by Säpo. “To carry out these security-threatening activities, the Iranian regime has on occasion made use of criminal networks.”
Säpo, the Swedish agency, said in its statement: “The security police can confirm that this also happens in Sweden. In Sweden, the Security Police has in recent years dealt with several concrete cases where assassination plans linked to Iranian security services were averted, where, among other things, criminal networks were used as proxies.”
“Sweden must not be a platform for the security-threatening activities of Iran or other states,” warned the agency.
Swedish police have strengthened security measures to protect Israeli and Jewish sites in Sweden, said Hampus Nygårds, deputy chief of the Swedish police’s National Operations Department.
A Mossad official said that previous travel warnings to Europe remain unchanged.
“Countermeasures continue all the time wherever necessary,” the official continued.
The Mossad said that Iranian-backed criminals were also behind last week’s attack on Israel’s embassy in Belgium in which two airsoft grenades were thrown.
The statement did not mention the armed man who set fire to a synagogue in the northern French city of Rouen earlier this month and was later killed by police. With the Paris Olympics two months away — and the war in Gaza likely to continue beyond the summer — French security services are on high alert for possible terror attacks.
Source » timesofisrael