Iran is increasing its support of terror in Europe through proxy criminal groups in the 60-day lead-up to the Paris Olympics, the Mossad revealed on Thursday.
It highlighted in particular the activities of two criminal groups — FOXTROT and RUMBA — alleging that they were “directly responsible for a violent activity and the promotion of terrorism in Sweden and throughout Europe” and that they receive funds and direction directly from Iran.
Israel’s spy agency charged that Iran was behind the grenade attack against Israel’s Embassy in Belgium this past weekend and the gunshots near the embassy in Sweden on May 17.
A similar third attempt to the attempted attack in Belgium was made to attack Israel’s Embassy in Sweden this past January using grenades, with the grenade not exploding in that case.
In Sweden's case, the criminal organization FOXTROT was exposed as the culprit acting on Tehran’s behalf.
Who is behind Iran-backed FOXTROT?
FOXTROT, known for its murders and large-scale drug trafficking, is the largest criminal organization in Sweden and operates in other European countries, Mossad said.
It alleged that FOXTROT head Rua Majid, a Swedish citizen of Kurdish origin nicknamed the “Kurdish Fox,” had been arrested in Iran for criminal activity and then recruited for terror activity and released to carry out terror for Iran.
FOXTROT’s rival gang RUMBA, headed by Ismail Abdo, was behind the May 17 gunshots near Israel’s embassy in Sweden, the Mossad said.
Iran frequently uses criminal organizations to carry out attacks on its behalf to try to hide its hand in the attacks.
In addition, Mossad said that Iran is trying to take advantage of the wave of global antisemitism relating to the war to recruit a variety of new kinds of proxies to carry out its terror attacks globally.
While the Islamic Republic is constantly trying to achieve acceptance and a level of normalization with the EU and the West, Mossad has worked together with European intelligence agencies to expose its proxies and tentacles of terror throughout the world.
Iran's global terror plans go back long before the current war.
מאמץ מודיעיני ומבצעי ממושך של שירותי הביטחון וסוכנויות מודיעין אירופאיים יחד עם המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים ושירות הביטחון הכללי הוביל לחשיפה נרחבת של תשתיות טרור שפעלו בחסות איראן במטרה מכוונת להביא להרג חפים מפשע. כך נחשף כעת בשם גורמים במוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים. pic.twitter.com/bDEUezAvU2
— אינטלי טיימס - إنتل تايمز - Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) May 30, 2024
In September 2023, Mossad Director David Barnea said that his agency and other intelligence agencies in Israel and among foreign allies thwarted 27 Iranian terror plots that year against Israelis all over the world on almost every continent.
Barnea showed off videos from Iranian terror agents that the Mossad captured and interrogated in Tanzania and Cyprus. He added that whoever sends terrorists against Israelis and Jews "will be brought to justice. We will raise our level against you."
He listed off the countries of Tanzania; Georgie, Cyprus, Greece, and Germany as just a few examples, naming Yousef Shahbazi Abbasalilo as an Iranian operative in the terror operation in Cyprus and Hamidreza Abraheh as an Iranian operative in the terror operation in Tanzania.
Sweden responded to the attacks, saying, "The Swedish Security Service (SÄPO) can now conclude that criminal networks in Sweden are a type of proxy that the Iranian regime is using. This is something that Iran previously have done in Europe, so it is nothing new.”
“But we now see concrete evidence on it in Sweden, connections between criminal networks and individuals within them, that has connections to Iranian Intelligence Services,” said the Swedish statement.