Swedish intelligence says Iran may have had role in Israeli embassy attacks in Europe

The Swedish intelligence agency Sapo said Thursday that Iran may have been involved in explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in Sweden and Denmark this week.

In Denmark, police said they arrested three Swedish nationals on Wednesday after two blasts, likely caused by hand grenades, close to the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen.

On Tuesday, the Israeli embassy in Stockholm was targeted in a shooting, according to Swedish police.

‘Some things’ point to Iran being behind embassy attacks

Asked about reports of links to Iran, Fredrik Hallstrom, head of operations at the Sapo agency, told a press conference that “there are some things that could point in that direction.”

“In part due to the choice of targets and modus operandi, but that is an assumption rather than pure knowledge,” Hallstrom said.

In May, Sapo said that Iran was recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to commit “acts of violence” against Israeli and other interests in Sweden — a claim Iran denied.

Swedish broadcaster SVT on Wednesday reported that it had received information that the two latest embassy attacks had been ordered by the Swedish criminal network Foxtrot — at the behest of Iran.

A Danish court on Thursday remanded two of the arrested Swedes — aged 16 and 19 — in custody for 27 days.

Copenhagen police said that the third Swede, arrested near the crime scene, had been released.

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#IranAttack
3 Swedish citizens aged 15-20 arrested for throwing hand grenades at the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen this morning.

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3 "Swedish citizens"…hence the full body suits to disguise their identity?

We all know who these alleged Swedes are..!#IsraelUnderAttack… pic.twitter.com/vSA80ODgLR

— श्रवण बिश्नोई (किसान) (@SharwanKumarBi7) October 2, 2024

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, several incidents apparently targeting Israeli interests in Sweden have been reported.

In February, police found a grenade on the grounds of the Israeli embassy compound, which the ambassador said was an attempted attack.

In May, gunshots were fired outside the Israeli embassy, which prompted the country to boost security measures around Israeli interests and Jewish community institutions.

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Iran summons envoys over criticism of attack on Israel

Iran summoned the German and Austrian ambassadors on Thursday after their governments rebuked the Islamic republic over its missile attack on Israel, state media reported.

The move, according to the official IRNA news agency, was in response to the “unacceptable measures” by Germany and Austria in summoning the Iranian envoys over Iran’s attack on Tuesday.

By: Agence France-Presse

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