Sweden: Iran Behind 2023 Hack Calling for Revenge on Koran Burners

In Sweden, in the summer of 2023, after the Quran was burned several times in protest, more than 15,000 people were sent SMS messages urging them to take revenge on those who set fire to the Quran. The country's government announced that Iran was behind this hacking attack.

Sweden has accused Iran's intelligence agency of hacking its SMS service in 2023 to send people messages calling for revenge against protesters who burned the Koran.

According to the statement of the Swedish prosecutor's office, in the summer of 2023, after a series of protests against the desecration of the Koran, about 15,000 messages were sent "calling for revenge against the Koran burners".

"The goal was to sow the seeds of division in Swedish society," the report said .

In a separate statement, Sweden 's Sapo intelligence service said it had discovered that the hacking group was working "to carry out an influence campaign on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guard."

"The aim was, among other things, to portray Sweden as an Islamophobic country," said Fredrik Hallström, Sapo's head of operations.

On August 1, 2023, Swedish media reported that a large number of people had received text messages calling for revenge against those who burned the Muslim holy book, officials said.

Prosecutors said the investigation revealed that a group called the Anzu Team was behind the operation, and that the investigation was closed because the suspects were unlikely to be prosecuted.

Last August, Sweden's Sapo intelligence service raised the country's security threat level to four on a five-point scale following a series of protests, including the burning of a Koran.

Relations between Sweden and several countries in the Middle East have been strained by protests in the summer of 2023.

In July of the same year, Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice, setting fire to the compound the second time.