Iran exploits Swedish teen gang members to attack Jewish, Israeli targets, report finds

CNN has been investigating the Iranian regime’s growing recruitment of criminal minors in Sweden to carry out attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets. The report, aired on Monday by journalist Katie Polglase, highlights the ayatollah regime’s exploitation of immigrant-background youth in its ongoing shadow war against Israel and the Jewish people.

The Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) confirmed that in the past two years, there have been at least four known attempted or completed attacks on the Israeli embassy in Sweden.

Swedish authorities have warned that young people are being exploited by local criminal gangs cooperating with Iran’s intelligence services. The recruited individuals receive detailed instructions concerning the location of guns and targets via encrypted message platforms, including Signal, Telegram and Zangi.

In May 2024, Swedish police arrested a 15-year-old boy found in illegal possession of a firearm, suspected of having been recruited by a criminal gang to carry out an attack. Just one day later, a 14-year-old boy fired a semi-automatic pistol near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm. Authorities believe Iran deliberately targets minors for recruitment, knowing they face more lenient legal consequences due to their age.

SÄPO's head of operations, Fredrik Hallstrom, described the link between Tehran and the attacks on Israeli targets as an objective hypothesis.

Swedish authorities believe the criminal minors are often unaware that they are working on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Diamant Salihu, an investigative crime journalist who works for the Swedish state television SVT, explained that the attacks on Israeli targets are part of the serious crime violence plaguing Swedish society in recent years.

Young immigrants, often poorly integrated into Swedish society, are reportedly more susceptible to recruitment by criminal gangs, often lured by promises of money and status.

“To understand why we see young Swedish teenagers attacking Israeli companies and embassies, we need to first acknowledge that we have had an ongoing gang conflict here in Sweden for a long time,” Salihu said.

Iran has denied any responsibility for the attacks in Sweden. However, in January 2025, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson openly accused the ayatollah regime of using local criminal gangs to carry out attacks on Swedish soil.

"Iran is using organized and violent criminal gangs to carry out serious attacks within Sweden,” Kristersson announced. He stressed that peace requires freedom and the absence of serious conflicts between countries. "But we and our neighbors are exposed to hybrid attacks, carried out not with robots and soldiers, but with computers, money, disinformation and the risk of sabotage."

SÄPO sources informed CNN that much of Iran’s proxy terrorism in Sweden is being carried out by Foxtrot and Rumba – two of the country’s most prominent criminal gangs – led by individuals with Middle Eastern backgrounds and alleged ties to Iran. Swedish authorities are investigating Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid and Rumba leader Ismail Abdo for murder, terrorism, and weapons trafficking.

Israeli intelligence revealed in May 2024 that Iran was using criminal gangs in Sweden and other countries to carry out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.

In October 2024, a European report confirmed that Tehran employs criminal gangs to carry out attacks against Israelis and Jews in Denmark, as well.

Israel’s National Security Council recently warned that Iran and its terrorist proxy Hamas have been stepping up efforts to target Jews and Israelis abroad.