Iranian pair suspected of working for Guard Corps deported over alleged plot to kill Swedish Jews – report

STOCKHOLM — Swedish radio reports that an Iranian couple, believed to be working for Iranian intelligence, was deported after being suspected in a plot to kill Swedish Jews.

According to an investigative report by Swedish Radio (SR), the couple, Mahdi Ramezani and Fereshteh Sanaeifarid, had applied for and been granted asylum in Sweden posing as Afghans.

Suspected of plotting to kill Swedish Jews, the couple were arrested in April 2021 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a terrorist crime, SR reports.

Due to a lack of evidence, the two were never charged but they were reportedly deported in 2022 for posing a security risk.

“We have strong belief that they were here on a mission on behalf of Iran. They were seen here in Sweden as a very severe security threat. And that’s the reason why they were expelled, even if we couldn’t prosecute them,” deputy chief prosecutor Hans Ihrman tells the broadcaster.

While the investigation was classified, SR cited sources saying that the two were working on behalf of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC.

The couple of alleged agents reportedly identified three targets, gathering addresses and photographs.

One of the suspected targets was believed to be Aron Verstandig, chair of the Official Council of Swedish Jewish communities, who tells SR that he had received a call from the Swedish Security Service in 2021, informing him that he was believed to be a target.