Iran may have been connected to explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in Sweden and Denmark this week, the Swedish intelligence agency said.
In Copenhagen, three Swedish nationals were arrested by the police on Wednesday following two explosions, likely caused by hand grenades, near the Israeli embassy. No individuals were injured in the blasts, a police spokesperson Jakob Hansen said.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Israeli embassy in Stockholm was targeted in a shooting incident, as reported by Swedish police, AFP reported.
When asked about potential links to Iran, Fredrik Hallstrom, head of operations at Sapo, stated during a press conference that “there are some things that could point in that direction.”
“In part due to the choice of targets and modus operandi, but that is an assumption rather than pure knowledge,” Hallstrom said.
In May, Sapo claimed that Iran was recruiting members of Swedish criminal gangs to carry out violent acts against Israelis and other interests in Sweden, an allegation that Iran denied.
Swedish broadcaster SVT reported on Wednesday that it had received information indicating that the two recent embassy attacks were ordered by the Swedish criminal network Foxtrot at the behest of Iran.
A Danish court has remanded two of the arrested Swedes, aged 16 and 19, in custody for 27 days, while the third Swede, who was arrested near the crime scene, has been released by the Copenhagen police as per the AFP news agency.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, several incidents targeting Israeli interests in Sweden have been reported. In February, a grenade was found on the grounds of the Israeli embassy compound, which the ambassador described as an attempted attack. In May, gunshots were fired outside the Israeli embassy, prompting the country to increase security measures around Israeli interests and Jewish community institutions.
