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Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Sweden says Iran behind thousands of text messages calling for revenge over 2023 Quran burnings
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Sweden’s prosecutors accuse Iran’s intelligence service of hacking an SMS operator in 2023 to send messages encouraging people to take revenge on protesters who had burned the Quran.
Sweden’s Prosecution Authority says in a statement that some 15,000 messages “calling for revenge against Quran burners” had been sent in the summer of 2023, following a slew of protests involving desecrations of the Quran.
“The aim was to create division in Swedish society,” the authority says.
In a separate statement, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo says it had determined that a hacker group had acted “on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out an influence campaign.”
“The aim was, among other things, to paint the picture of Sweden as an Islamophobic country,” Fredrik Hallstrom, chief of operations at Sapo, says in a statement.
On August 1, 2023, Swedish media reported that a large number of people had received text messages calling for revenge against people who had burned the Muslim holy book, the authority notes.
According to prosecutors, an investigation had shown that a group called Anzu team was behind the operation, adding that the investigation had been closed, as it was deemed unlikely that it would be possible to bring the suspects to justice.
The Times of Israel Community.