A crowd outdoors the Swedish embassy in Baghdad protested over the burning of the Quran by an Iraqi residing in Sweden. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/ AFP)
- Sweden’s prosecutors have accused Iran’s intelligence service of being behind the 2023 hacker assault that urged revenge on protestors who burned the Quran.
- In a press release, the prosecuting authority mentioned 15 000 messages “calling for revenge in opposition to Quran burners” had been despatched in the summertime of 2023.
- Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo mentioned it had decided {that a} hacker group had acted “on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to hold out an affect marketing campaign.”
Sweden’s prosecutors on Tuesday accused Iran’s intelligence service of hacking an SMS operator in 2023 to ship messages encouraging individuals to take revenge on protesters who had burned the Quran.
Sweden’s Prosecution Authority mentioned in a press release that some 15 000 messages “calling for revenge in opposition to Quran burners” had been despatched in the summertime of 2023, following a slew of protests involving desecrations of the Quran.
“The intention was to create division in Swedish society,” the authority mentioned.
In a separate assertion, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo mentioned it had decided {that a} hacker group had acted “on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to hold out an affect marketing campaign.”
“The intention was, amongst different issues, to color the image of Sweden as an Islamophobic nation, Fredrik Hallstrom, chief of operations at Sapo, mentioned in a press release.
READ | Pakistan condemns Quran burning as ‘assault on religion’ at UN rights physique
On 1 August 2023, Swedish media reported that a lot of individuals had acquired textual content messages calling for revenge in opposition to individuals who had burned the Muslim holy guide, the authority famous.
In response to prosecutors, an investigation had proven {that a} group known as Anzu crew was behind the operation, including that the investigation had been closed, because it was deemed unlikely that it might be attainable to convey the suspects to justice.
“For the reason that actors are performing on behalf of a international energy, on this case Iran, our evaluation is that the situations essential to convey fees overseas or an extradition to Sweden are lacking for these suspected of being behind the assault,” senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist mentioned.
In August final 12 months, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo raised its risk stage to 4 on a scale of 5 after a sequence of protests that included Quran burnings had made the nation a “prioritised goal”.
Relations between Sweden and several other Center Japanese international locations had been strained by the protests which had been concentrated over the summer time of 2023.
Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July of that 12 months, beginning fires throughout the compound on the second event.
The Swedish authorities condemned the desecrations whereas noting the nation’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and meeting legal guidelines.