Sweden says Iran was behind thousands of SMS to Swedes calling for revenge over 2023 Quran burnings

Swedish authorities accused Iran on Tuesday of being late thousands of textual express messages that had been despatched to of us in the Scandinavian nation calling for revenge over the burnings of Quran, Islam’s holy e book in 2023.

Officials in Stockholm claimed that Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard applied “an info breach” and managed to ship “some 15,000 textual express messages in Swedish” over the string of public burnings of the Quran.

Senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist mentioned that a preliminary investigation, applied by Sweden’s SAPO domestic safety company, confirmed that “it used to be the Iranian disclose by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, that applied an info breach at a Swedish firm that runs a essential SMS provider.”

The Swedish firm used to be now no longer named. There used to be no rapid commentary from Iranian authorities on the accusations from Sweden.

In August 2023, Swedish media reported that a orderly assortment of of us in Sweden had obtained textual express messages in Swedish calling for revenge against of us that had been burning the Quran, Ljungqvist mentioned, along with that the sender of the messages used to be “a neighborhood calling itself the Anzu crew.”

Swedish broadcaster SVT printed a photograph of a textual express message, asserting that “those who desecrated the Quran must possess their work covered in ashes” and calling Swedes “demons.”

The protests had been held under the freedom of speech act, which is protected under the Swedish structure. The rallies had been licensed by police.

On the opposite hand, the incidents left Sweden torn between its dedication to free speech and its admire for religious minorities.

In a separate commentary, SAPO’s operational supervisor Fredrik Hallström mentioned the textual express messages ‘ intent used to be to additionally “paint the image of Sweden as an Islamophobic nation and obtain division in society.”

He accused “foreign powers” of attempting for to “exploit vulnerabilities” and mentioned they had been “now performing extra and further aggressively, and that’s a pattern that is seemingly to escalate.” He did now no longer name any particular nation.

Meanwhile, Sweden’ justice minister, Gunnar Strömmer, rapid Swedish info company TT “that a disclose actor, on this case Iran, in accordance with (SAPO’s) evaluate is late an action that objectives to destabilise Sweden or enlarge polarisation in our nation is sure very severe.”

There is no longer any regulation in Sweden namely prohibiting the burning or desecration of the Quran or assorted religious texts. Like many Western worldwide locations, Sweden doesn’t possess any blasphemy licensed guidelines.

“Since the actors are performing for a foreign energy, on this case Iran, we build the evaluate that the necessities for prosecution in a foreign nation or extradition to Sweden are lacking for the folk suspected of being late the breach, “Ljungqvist mentioned.

Ljungqvist who’s with Sweden’s high prosecution authority mentioned though the preliminary investigation has been closed, it “does not imply that the suspected hackers had been totally written off” and that the probe shall be reopened.

Sweden’s domestic safety company in Would possibly presumably maybe presumably accused Iran of the utilization of established felony networks in Sweden as a proxy to rental Israeli or Jewish interests in the Scandinavian nation.