Iran behind hacker attack urging revenge for Quran burning: Sweden

Sweden's prosecutors on Sept 24 accused Iran's intelligence service of hacking an SMS operator in 2023 to send messages encouraging people to take revenge on protesters who had burnt the Quran.

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Sweden's Prosecution Authority said in a statement that some 15,000 messages "calling for revenge against Koran burners" had been sent in the summer of 2023, following a slew of protests involving desecrations of the Quran.

"The aim was to create division in Swedish society," the authority said.

In a separate statement, Sweden's intelligence service Sapo said it had determined that a hacker group had acted "on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to carry out an influence campaign".

"The aim was, among other things, to paint the picture of Sweden as an Islamophobic country," Mr Fredrik Hallstrom, chief of operations at Sapo, said in a statement.

On Aug 1, 2023, Swedish media reported that a large number of people had received text messages calling for revenge against people who had burnt the Muslim holy book, the authority noted.