Swedish prosecutors said in a statement In the summer of 2023, “15,000 text messages” were sent in Swedish “in revenge against those who burned copies of the Koran”, following a series of protests involving what SMS authors consider “a desecration of the Muslim holy book”.
In a separate statement, the Swedish intelligence agency Sapo argues that a group Hackers Acted “on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards”. to carry out an influence campaign.”
Officials in Stockholm say more Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard carried out “a data breach” to access thousands of phone numbers.
Senior lawyer Mats Ljungqvist was quoted as saying in the publication Economic TimesA preliminary investigation by the Swedish security agency “reiterates that the Iranian government through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out the data breach at a Swedish company that runs a major security service,” SMS said.“Among other things, the aim was to portray Sweden as an Islamophobic country,” Sapo’s head of operations Fredrik Hallstrom explained in a statement.
This action is targeted “Create a divide in Swedish society”Highlighted Swedish authorities quoted in French Le Monde .
“The investigation allowed us to establish the identity of the Iranian hackers who committed this serious data security breach,” Lünqvist added.
According to Swedish prosecutors, during the investigation it was revealed that a group called Anju Group was behind the operation: “A group calling itself Anju Group”.Ljungqvist also pointed out that the investigation was closed because it was deemed impossible to bring the suspects to justice.
The Swedish company has not been identified and there is still no reaction from Iranian authorities to Sweden’s allegations.
Burning books and freedom of expression
In the summer of 2023, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi-born refugee, burned a Muslim religious book outside a mosque in Stockholm on the first day of Eid al-Adha. For several days, Momica and other activists burned copies of the Koran again, sparking outrage in Sweden.
Momika and Salwan Najem, another member who destroyed a copy of the Koran, said they wanted to ban the Islamic religious book in Sweden. “I will burn it several times until you stop it,” Najem told the newspaper reveal.
While the police rejected requests to stage similar protests, the courts ruled that such actions should be allowed on the grounds of freedom of expression..
Later, anonymous SMS messages were sent saying “revenge”.
Since then, relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries have deteriorated, with the Swedish embassy in Iraq attacked twice. In the second attack, protesters set fire to the embassy.