Sweden Says Iran was Behind Thousands of Text Messages Calling for Revenge over Quran Burnings

A Swedish man of Iraqi descent burns a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in Stockholm. (AFP)
A Swedish man of Iraqi descent burns a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in Stockholm. (AFP)
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Sweden Says Iran was Behind Thousands of Text Messages Calling for Revenge over Quran Burnings

A Swedish man of Iraqi descent burns a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in Stockholm. (AFP)
A Swedish man of Iraqi descent burns a copy of the Quran in front of a mosque in Stockholm. (AFP)

Swedish authorities accused Iran on Tuesday of being responsible for thousands of text messages that were sent to people in the Scandinavian country calling for revenge over the burnings of the Quran in 2023.
According to officials in Stockholm, the cyberattack was carried out by Iran´s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which hacked an SMS service and sent "some 15,000 text messages in Swedish" over the string of public burnings of the Quran that took place over several months in the summer of 2023.
Senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said a preliminary investigation by Sweden´s SAPO domestic security agency showed "it was the Iranian state via the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC, that carried out a data breach at a Swedish company that runs a major SMS service."
The Swedish company was not named. There was no immediate comment from Iranian authorities on the accusations from Sweden.
In August 2023, Swedish media reported that a large number of people in Sweden had received text messages in Swedish calling for revenge against people who were burning the Quran.
Also in 2023, an Iraqi citizen living in Sweden set a copy of the Quran alight in front of the capital's largest mosque.



Indonesia Gold Mine Collapses after Landslide, 15 Dead

A general view shows large rocks, debris and mud left after a landslide on the highway on the way from Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca, in the aftermath of Hurricane John, Oaxaca state, Mexico September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Jorge Luis Plata
A general view shows large rocks, debris and mud left after a landslide on the highway on the way from Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca, in the aftermath of Hurricane John, Oaxaca state, Mexico September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Jorge Luis Plata
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Indonesia Gold Mine Collapses after Landslide, 15 Dead

A general view shows large rocks, debris and mud left after a landslide on the highway on the way from Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca, in the aftermath of Hurricane John, Oaxaca state, Mexico September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Jorge Luis Plata
A general view shows large rocks, debris and mud left after a landslide on the highway on the way from Puerto Escondido to Oaxaca, in the aftermath of Hurricane John, Oaxaca state, Mexico September 25, 2024. REUTERS/Jorge Luis Plata

At least 15 people died in the collapse of an illegal gold mine in Indonesia's province of West Sumatra, following a landslide caused by heavy rains, an official said on Friday, while rescuers are scrambling to locate seven missing.
Small-scale and illegal mining has often caused accidents in Indonesia, where mineral resources are located in remote areas in conditions difficult for authorities to regulate, Reuters reported.
The illegal gold mine in the district of Solok collapsed after a landslide on Thursday evening due to heavy rain, said Irwan Efendi, the head of the provincial disaster agency.
Rescuers must trek eight hours to get to the site, which is inaccessible by road, Irwan told Reuters, adding, "The victims are the residents who manually mine for gold."
He estimated there were probably 25 people in the mine at the time of the incident, of whom 15 died, while three were injured and seven are missing.
Police and military launched a search early on Friday for the missing, along with steps to evacuate the dead.