Sweden says Iran behind 2023 hacker attack that urged revenge for Quran burning

A crowd outside the Swedish embassy in Baghdad protested over the burning of the Quran by an Iraqi living in Sweden. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/ AFP)

• Sweden’s prosecutors have accused Iran’s intelligence service of being behind the 2023 hacker attack that urged revenge on protestors who burned the Quran. 
• In a statement, the prosecuting authority said 15 000 messages “calling for revenge against Quran burners” had been sent in the summer of 2023.
• Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo said it had determined that a hacker group had acted “on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out an influence campaign.”

Sweden’s prosecutors on Tuesday accused 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 said 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 said.

In a separate statement, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo said 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, said in a statement.

READ | Pakistan condemns Quran burning as ‘attack on faith’ at UN rights body

On 1 August 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 noted.

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.

“Since the actors are acting on behalf of a foreign power, in this case Iran, our assessment is that the conditions necessary to bring charges abroad or an extradition to Sweden are missing for those suspected of being behind the attack,” senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said.

In August last year, Sweden’s intelligence service Sapo raised its threat level to four on a scale of five after a series of protests that included Quran burnings had made the country a “prioritised target”.

Relations between Sweden and several Middle Eastern countries were strained by the protests which were concentrated over the summer of 2023.

Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July of that year, starting fires within the compound on the second occasion.

The Swedish government condemned the desecrations while noting the country’s constitutionally protected freedom of speech and assembly laws.