Iran's regime incited Islamist protests in Sweden

Swedish authorities have accused Iran of being behind text messages sent to thousands of people calling for revenge for the burning of Islam's holy book. These messages are believed to have incited the protests that erupted after activists burned copies of the Quran on several occasions.

Sweden claims that Iran conducted an interference campaign aimed at destabilizing the country. According to the Swedish government, the operation was carried out by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which allegedly hacked into a database containing phone numbers to to bombard people with messages.

Sweden's top prosecutor, Mats Ljungqvist, said a preliminary investigation led by the Swedish national security agency, SAPO for short, showed that "it was the Iranian state through Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, that carried out a data breach at a Swedish company that runs a major SMS service." He did not specify which Swedish company is involved in the case.

The case began when in 2023, an Iraqi-born activist began a series of street protest performances in several European cities and burned copies of the Quran. The Iraqi, exiled in Europe, quickly attracted the attention of the public and the Muslim community.

Although the authorities received complaints against him, this type of behavior is permitted in Sweden and protected by freedom of expression. The international Muslim community was appalled. The Iranian regime took action to destabilize Sweden in the wake of these incidents.

This is not the first instance of interference in Sweden's security from the Islamic world. Swedish authorities have previously intervened on several occasions to disrupt Islamist groups linked to Hamas. Additionally, Israeli embassy in Sweden has also been the target of sporadic attacks in recent years. 

Fredrik Hallström, operational director of the Swedish security agency, said the intention of the text messages was also to "paint Sweden's image as an Islamophobic country and create division in society," and accused "foreign powers" of trying to "exploit vulnerabilities." He said "they are now acting more and more aggressively, and this is a development that is likely to intensify."