Sweden accuses Iran of hacking messaging service after Koran burnings

Counter-demonstrators and police officers gather at Gustav Adolfs Torg on the occasion of a public gathering where the organizer intends to burn a Koran, in Malmo, Sweden, May 3, 2024. TT News Agency Johan Nilsson/File Photo

STOCKHOLM - Swedish authorities said on Tuesday that Iran hacked into a text messaging service last year and sent thousands of messages urging Swedes to take revenge against Koran burners.

In 2023, individuals in Sweden on several occasions set fire to Islam's holy book in public, prompting outrage in the Muslim world and raising fears of attacks by jihadists.

"The security police is able to establish that a cyber group acted on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out an influence campaign," the Swedish Security Service said in a statement.

"The purpose was, among other things, to paint the image of Sweden as an Islamophobic country and create division in society," it said.

Sweden last year raised its terrorism alert following the Koran burnings.

In a separate statement, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said the investigation showed it was the Iranian state via the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that carried out the data breach.

The Swedish agency said it had identified the individual hackers carrying out the breach but would not press charges.

"Since the perpetrators are acting for a foreign power, in this case Iran, we make the assessment that the conditions for prosecution abroad or extradition to Sweden are lacking," it said.

Iran's embassy in Stockholm could not immediately be reached for comment. Iran's foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

-(Reuters)