A new report from CNN says teens in Sweden are being targeted for recruitment by gangs that have been taken over by Iran. Titled “Recruited by gangs, exploited by Iran: Intel sources say Swedish teens are being used to target Israeli interests,” the report paints a troubling picture of how Iran is escalating its war on Israel abroad.
Iran has often sought to target Israel and Israelis abroad. It has used various networks over the years to do so, including attacks and attempted attacks from South America to Europe and Asia.
Iran has engaged in these conspiracies for years, but the intersection of Iran and gangs in Sweden illustrates how Iran is increasing its attempts to infiltrate various types of groups abroad.
The convergence of the Iranian regime and criminal networks is troubling because it gives Tehran the ability to tap into new violent networks abroad. These can then lead to the radicalization of youth, and with rising gun crime in Europe, these teens have more access to weapons.
Extremist groups have often been able to operate on the fringes of society and exploit people who may be linked to criminal networks. In Europe, extremists have often preyed on immigrants or second-generation immigrants. They operate in migrant neighborhoods, radicalizing the youth. This is also how groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood worked in the Middle East for years.
The challenge in Europe is that this could lead to more crimes against Israeli and/or Jewish targets. Iran has often had trouble radicalizing youth abroad because it is a Shi’ite country, which is often hamstrung by not always being able to infiltrate sectors outside of the Iranian and Shi’ite milieu. Sometimes, it works through proxies, like Hezbollah, that have existing links to international criminal networks and drug trafficking.
Tapping into Sweden's criminal networks
The CNN report says that Sweden’s Security Service (SÄPO) has “warned that Iran was using the country’s criminal networks to do its bidding in an expansion of its regional conflict with Israel but offered few further details. Iran’s embassy in Stockholm rejected the claims at the time as ‘fake and propagandistic’ information pushed by Israel.”
The report goes on to note that “CNN spoke with multiple Swedish police and security sources about the alleged foreign activity for this investigation. Not all would comment on the record, but those who did said that the Iranian government has been working with local gangs to plot political attacks on Israeli and Jewish interests. In many cases, they said, children were involved.”
Iran has allegedly sought to work with or operationalize recruits through two Swedish gangs. The gangs have “plotted several attacks targeting the Israeli embassy in Stockholm at Iran’s behest last year. They included an attempted attack involving an explosive device on January 31, the foiled attempt on May 16, and the shooting on May 17, as well as what a Swedish prosecutor described as an incident involving gunfire on October 1.”
Iran’s networks have also targeted minors. This is likely so that the teens will not be given long prison sentences. Iran is exploiting Sweden’s open society to carry out attacks.
“Organized crime in Sweden right now is a huge vulnerability that is being used by state actors,” Fredrik Hallström, head of operations at SÄPO, told CNN. The US Treasury Department recently sanctioned one of the gangs and its leader, the report said.
Overall, the report paints a disturbing picture. If Iran is able to continue exploiting criminal networks in Europe, this could enable it to tap into violent youth and exploit them in the future. The report is significant because it shows that Sweden is aware of this challenge. European countries and other states should work more closely against Iran’s illegal activities. This is an opportunity to do so.