Iran, which has for years used local militias for striking back against its enemies in the Middle East, has been increasingly hiring criminal gangs in the West to hit Israeli or Jewish targets, as well as other perceived adversaries.
Authorities believe Iran to be behind a series of recent attacks in Europe, including hand grenades being thrown at the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm and an attack on a Swedish politician, who was shot in the face, reports The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Manne Gerell, an associate professor at Malmö University, said Iran works with middlemen to find people to carry out its attacks.
"These are project-based hits, and the people who organize them don't have to have an affiliation with any gang. They can be independent contractors," he said, adding that sometimes young gang members are willing to kill for free, if it can improve their criminal standing.
Danish police arrested two Swedish teens, ages 16 and 19, charging them with terrorism in connection with the Stockholm embassy explosions.
According to Swedish media, the young men were affiliated with a gang leader who has been accused of ordering attacks in the Scandinavian region on Tehran's behalf. He is reportedly hiding in the Iranian capital from arrest warrants issued in his name.
Meanwhile, Swedish police Thursday arrested a young suspect, believed to be 12 or 13 years old, in connection with a shooting near Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense electronics company in Gothenburg.
"Iran for years has conducted security-destabilizing activities in Sweden, mainly aimed at the Iranian diaspora," Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg, a spokesperson for the Swedish Security Service, commented. "This spring we established that the Iranian regime had been using individuals connected to criminal networks in Sweden to carry out violence."
The attacks are expected to grow while Iran is facing limited options in responding to recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon and finding that they can use lower-level criminals in Europe to target enemies.
Russia is likely using criminals in Europe to attack its enemies as well, according to MI5 Director General Ken McCallum, the head of the U.K.'s domestic spy agency.
He said Russia has turned to using criminal networks after 750 diplomats were expelled after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Israel's National Security Council likewise reported in late September that it identified growing efforts to target Israel's interests worldwide after the Hamas attacks last year.
Daniel Byman, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said that covert actions in Europe would allow Iran to hit targets that are usually not being defended, adding that "small groups of individuals can do it without much training and money."
The link between Iran and criminals in Europe is said to be the result of decades of work in the Middle East, with Iranian-based militias being involved in international crime networks to smuggle weapons, drugs, and other goods to finance operations.
Criminals have also attacked other figures who are not Israeli or Jewish targets, including journalist Pouria Zeraati, the host of a host a prime-time news show on Iran International, a Saudi-backed broadcaster.
He was heading to his car in London, where he was stabbed repeatedly in the leg while getting into his car. One of the attackers detracted him by asking him for change, while the other attacked. They were believed to be Eastern European criminals.
"It was a warning shot," Zeraati said in an interview from Israel, where he now lives.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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