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.



Kyiv Says Russian Attacks on Medical Center in Ukraine's Sumy Kill 8

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian National Police on September 19, 2024 shows police officers carrying a victim of an airstrike on a geriatric center in the city of Sumy, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN NATIONAL POLICE / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian National Police on September 19, 2024 shows police officers carrying a victim of an airstrike on a geriatric center in the city of Sumy, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN NATIONAL POLICE / AFP)
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Kyiv Says Russian Attacks on Medical Center in Ukraine's Sumy Kill 8

This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian National Police on September 19, 2024 shows police officers carrying a victim of an airstrike on a geriatric center in the city of Sumy, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN NATIONAL POLICE / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released by the Ukrainian National Police on September 19, 2024 shows police officers carrying a victim of an airstrike on a geriatric center in the city of Sumy, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN NATIONAL POLICE / AFP)

Russian forces hit a medical center in Sumy in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday morning then struck again as the building was being evacuated, killing a total of eight people, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian prosecutors said that at the time of the attacks, 86 patients and 38 staff members were in the hospital.
"The first attack killed one person and damaged the ceilings of several floors of the hospital," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.
As people were being evacuated, the Russians struck again, killing a further five people, he said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later said eight people were killed and 11 injured, Reuters reported.
"Everyone in the world who talks about this war should pay attention to where Russia is hitting. They are fighting hospitals, civilian objects, and people's lives," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
"Only force can force Russia to peace. Peace through force is the only right way."
Klymenko did not specify what weapons were used in Saturday's attacks but the regional administration and air forces said the strike was carried out by drones.
Attacks on Sumy city and the Sumy region have become much more frequent since Ukrainian forces launched an operation in Russia's Kursk region in August and captured dozens of settlements.
Sumy city is located just 32 km (20 miles) from the Russian border and Russian forces have been attacking the region and the city with drones and guided bombs.
Ukrainian air forces earlier on Saturday said they had shot down 69 of 73 drones during an overnight Russian attack that included two ballistic and two cruise missiles.
About 15 Russian attack drones were destroyed by air defenses in the capital Kyiv and on its outskirts, the military administration there said.