عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran Involved in Plot to Assassinate Jews in Sweden

A picture distributed by Swedish Radio shows the Iranian couple who were deported in 2022.
A picture distributed by Swedish Radio shows the Iranian couple who were deported in 2022.
TT
TT

Iran Involved in Plot to Assassinate Jews in Sweden

A picture distributed by Swedish Radio shows the Iranian couple who were deported in 2022.
A picture distributed by Swedish Radio shows the Iranian couple who were deported in 2022.

Swedish Radio (SR) revealed on Tuesday that an Iranian man and woman working for Iranian intelligence services were deported to their country in 2022 on charges of planning to assassinate Jews in Sweden.
Mahdi Ramezani and Fereshteh Sanaeifarid were arrested in April 2021, on the outskirts of Stockholm, on suspicion of conspiring to commit a terrorist crime, according to AFP, quoting the Swedish media.
An investigation conducted by Swedish Radio showed that the couple, who obtained asylum in 2017 after pretending to be Afghan refugees, were deported to Iran because they posed a threat to national security.
Due to a lack of evidence, the two were never charged but were reportedly expelled from the country in 2022 for posing a security risk.
“We have strong belief that they were here on a mission on behalf of Iran. They were seen here in Sweden as a very severe security threat. And that’s the reason why they were expelled, even if we couldn’t prosecute them,” deputy chief prosecutor Hans Ihrman told the broadcaster.
No official information was revealed about the two individuals. But SR cited sources saying that they were working on behalf of the IRGC and reportedly identified three different targets, gathering addresses and photographs.
One of the suspected targets was believed to be Aron Verstandig, Chair of the Official Council of Swedish Jewish communities, who told SR that he had received a call from the Swedish Security Service in 2021, informing him that he was believed to be at risk.
He said: “They basically told me that you have been named as one of the targets of a possible terror crime that involves murder.”
The radio station indicated that the two Iranians deny the accusations. There was no comment from the Iranian authorities.
Relations between Sweden and Iran witnessed a crisis after a Swedish court issued a life imprisonment sentence against Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prison official, for his involvement in mass executions of prisoners, ordered by Tehran in 1988.
In response to Nouri’s trial, Iran detained many Swedish citizens.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Azerbaijan Observes Day of Mourning for Air Crash Victims as Speculation Mount about Its Cause

People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)
People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Azerbaijan Observes Day of Mourning for Air Crash Victims as Speculation Mount about Its Cause

People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)
People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)

Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the crash that remained unknown.

Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea.

The plane went down about 3 kilometers (around 2 miles) from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft lying upside in the grass.

On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic across the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the country observed a nationwide moment of silence.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.

“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.

Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.

According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals.

As the official crash investigation started, theories abounded about a possible cause, with some commentators alleging that holes seen in the plane's tail section possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.

Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country's North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya happened on Wednesday, although it wasn't officially confirmed.

Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.” Osprey provides analysis for carriers still flying into Russia after Western airlines halted their flights during the war.

Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said that the company had issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.

“This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do,” Nicholson wrote online. “It is painful to know that despite our efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”

Asked about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict.”

Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine it.