Falcon powers – The Iranian government is using criminal networks within Sweden to carry out violent acts against other states, groups and individuals, the Swedish intelligence service Sapo said on Thursday.
Intelligence officials said Iran had recently attacked the interests of other states in Sweden – specifically Israel – and also sought to act against Iranian dissident groups and individuals from the Iranian diaspora.
“The security service can now confirm that criminal networks in Sweden are proxies that Iran uses,” Daniel Stenling, head of counter-intelligence at Sapo, told a news conference.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to the Swedish statement.
“The Iranian regime is using criminal networks in Sweden to carry out acts of violence against other states, groups or people in Sweden that it considers a threat,” said Sapo.
It cited in particular “Israeli and Jewish interests, targets and operations in Sweden”.
“Iran has previously used violence in other countries in Europe in a bid to silence critical voices and perceived threats against its regime,” said Sapo.
“Our assessment is that this is a regional conflict that has spread globally and now also includes Sweden as an arena for this conflict,” Mr Stenling told a press conference.
He said that “very young individuals, even children, can be used to carry out Iranian activities that threaten security in Sweden”.
Sapo said it was collaborating with the police, military and international allies “to meet the threat from Iran”.
