The U.S. Embassy in Sweden issued a security alert to U.S. citizens, warning that Iran could use local criminal gangs to carry out attacks against U.S. and Israeli interests.
The embassy in Stockholm posted a security alert on Monday, citing local media reports speculating that Tehran could use connections within criminal gangs to carry out reprisal attacks over the recent U.S. bombing of its nuclear sites. It specifically warned of the Foxtrot Network, a gang run by a Kurdish migrant to Sweden who is currently believed to be residing in Iran.
“Swedish media reports that Iran may be pressuring local criminal gangs, including the Foxtrot Network, to carry out attacks in Sweden against U.S. and Israeli interests,” the notice said. “U.S. citizens in Sweden are advised to exercise increased caution and maintain awareness of their surroundings, particularly near the U.S. Embassy.”
The embassy urged U.S. citizens to exercise caution around the facility and to avoid crowds, among other security precautions.
The Foxtrot Network is among Sweden’s most infamous gangs, taking part in arms and drug trafficking, assaults, shootings, and contract killings, among other crimes. It operates across northern Europe, led from Iran by fugitive leader Rawa Majid. It was sanctioned by the United States in April over its connections to Tehran.
According to the State Department, Tehran has leveraged the network to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets across Europe, including an attack against the Israeli Embassy in Sweden in January 2024. It alleged that Majid specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
Iran has begun outsourcing assassinations and other espionage operations to local criminal gangs over the past half decade, especially after destabilizing protests rocked the country in 2022. A September investigation from the Washington Post found that Iran has enlisted at least five criminal syndicates, including the Hells Angels, to carry out attacks against dissidents, Jewish, and Israeli targets.
In one plot, Iran hired a member of the German branch of the Hells Angels, Ramin Yektaparast, to bomb a synagogue in Essen.
Majid is just one of several criminal leaders working out of Iran with Iranian intelligence. A heroin trafficking kingpin based out of Tehran, Naji Sharifi Zindashti, negotiated a $350,000 contract with two Hells Angels members residing in Canada to assassinate an Iranian defector living in Maryland.
IRAN TURNING TO CRIMINAL GROUPS TO ATTACK EXILED DISSIDENTS
Warnings to U.S. citizens to stay away from crowds due to possible attacks are a common occurrence when conflicts flare up. Americans in Russia in February 2022 were repeatedly warned of a mass casualty event that never came.
President Donald Trump announced a “Complete and total CEASEFIRE” between Israel and Iran on Monday.
