- Sweden accuses Iran of hack inciting revenge for Quran burnings
- Allege Iranian intelligence hacked into a Swedish text messaging service to send 15,000 inflammatory messages
- Iran are exploiting opportunities to incite division and strengthen their regimes
Sweden accuses Iran of hack inciting revenge for Quran burnings
Sweden’s security service, Sapo, has accused Iranian intelligence of hacking into a Swedish text messaging service to send 15,000 inflammatory messages. The breach, which occurred last summer, involved SMS messages urging “revenge against Quran-burners” after several activists set fire to copies of the Quran during anti-Islam protests in Sweden.
The Iranian embassy in Stockholm denied the accusations, calling them “baseless” and damaging to diplomatic relations. However, Swedish authorities claim that their investigation traced the attack to a cyber group called Anzu, allegedly linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). The group is said to have aimed to create social unrest and portray Sweden as Islamophobic.
Although Sweden condemned the Quran burnings and attempted to ban them, the courts upheld them under freedom of expression laws, triggering protests in several Muslim-majority countries. Sweden’s embassy in Iraq was even set on fire by demonstrators.
Sapo warned that foreign states like Iran are exploiting opportunities to incite division and strengthen their regimes. Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer condemned Iran’s involvement, calling it a serious attempt to destabilise Sweden and increase polarisation.
