By Fariba Raad | 2025-04-24

The Iranian regime has been accused of using organized criminal gangs that recruited teenage operatives online to orchestrate terror attacks in Sweden.

The Israeli embassy in Stockholm was targeted four times in 2023 and 2024 with shootings and an attempted bombing, according to Sweden's Security Service (SÄPO).

Some of the suspects were teenagers, it said.

"Iran is using organized and violent criminal gangs to carry out serious attacks within Sweden," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said January 12.

The Foxtrot gang, led by Iran-born Rawa Majid (aka the "Kurdish Fox"), and Rumba gang, headed by Ismail Abdo, have been implicated in several attacks, according to a CNN investigation.

The gangs recruit vulnerable youth via social media posts using coded advertisements with emojis -- foxes for Foxtrot and strawberries for Rumba -- and promises of cash, designer clothing and social status, it said.

Majid, who fled Sweden in 2018, reportedly returned to Iran in 2023. He has been under US sanctions since March.

Israeli intelligence and SÄPO allege Tehran provided Majid with protection and resources, strengthening his criminal network and facilitating attacks across Europe.

The Iranian regime recruited both gangs, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported, citing Israeli intelligence that showed Majid had been arrested in Iran and ordered to cooperate with the regime or face imprisonment.

"Iran's brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime's attempts to achieve its aims through any means," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The Iranian regime has pursued its agenda "with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe," he said.

Teenage suspects

In May 2024, a 15-year-old boy was arrested while carrying a weapon during what he believed was a simple errand, CNN said. The following day, a 14-year-old fired a semi-automatic pistol near the Israeli embassy.

Court documents showed both teenagers had contact with gang members who arranged transportation and provided instructions, though they appeared unaware of who ultimately ordered the attacks, Swedish prosecutors said.

SÄPO head of operations Fredrik Hallstrom characterized Tehran's involvement in the attacks as an "objective hypothesis," though the agency later declined to elaborate on this "sensitive topic" when approached by Pishtaz.

"Hostile foreign powers conduct extensive security-threatening activities toward Sweden," a spokesperson told Pishtaz.

"In addition, we note an increase in how hostile foreign powers use criminal networks and/or minors to carry out security threatening activities in Sweden toward Swedish or other countries' interests."

"Targeting embassies and civilians is a clear breach of diplomatic protections and humanitarian principles," Iranian political analyst Shayan Samii told Pishtaz.

"Using children as instruments of political violence adds another layer of moral depravity," Samii said.