Iran is hiring criminal gangs to target Israeli embassies in Europe, Mossad claimed on Thursday.
The plots include grenade attacks on the embassies in Belgium and Sweden, according to a statement from Israel’s national security headquarters.
An investigation conducted with European intelligence agencies revealed that gangs were hired “directly from Iran to carry out terrorist attacks”.
The Iranian regime employed criminals from Foxtrot, a Swedish gang known for drug-trafficking and murder, to throw a grenade at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January.
Last weekend, two grenades were similarly hurled at the embassy in Brussels.
Ronen Solomon, an Israeli intelligence and security analyst, said the use of criminal gangs was typical of Iran’s tactics.
He told The Telegraph: “It’s not new that Iran is using proxies, and gangs are no different.
“They use them for all sorts of illicit purposes – from drugs to weapons – and they use people from countries such as Turkey and Kurdistan to do it, so Iran already has this network of criminal gangs.”
He said the recruits have been as young as 14, including those arrested earlier this month for the Stockholm embassy attack, or come from poor backgrounds that make them vulnerable to enticements.
“They’re poor people, easy to recruit, and the Iranians know how to use it,” said Mr Solomon. “They’ve managed to infiltrate all across Europe, usually using routes from the Balkans and Turkey to Europe.”
He said the decision to release details of the investigation so soon after its completion was intended to send a message to Turkey, a key location for Iran to base operations and intelligence gathering as a bridge to Europe.
“Mossad knows that Turkey is turning a blind eye to Iran’s activities through Europe and this is sending a strong message,” he said. Turkey is known to host Hamas leaders in Istanbul.
Last year, David Barnea, the director of Mossad, revealed that Israel had foiled dozens of plots against Jewish and Israeli targets, from Europe to South America.
“Iran’s use of proxies and taking advantage of the intensifying wave of acts of anti-Semitism against Israel is Iran’s way of avoiding a state fingerprint in the terrorist acts it promotes, in order to reduce the political-legal-public consequences it may pay,” said Israel’s national security headquarters.
“Despite these efforts, the terrorist organisations in Iran are failing in this mission and, thanks to international cooperation between the intelligence and enforcement agencies around the world, the Iranian fingerprint and its intentions to carry out terrorism are exposed time and time again.”
Last month, Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack against Israel, sending 350 drones and missiles towards the Jewish state, in what it said was a retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria.
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