TEHRAN – The Iranian embassy in Stockholm has issued a statement refuting government allegations that Iran sent text messages to Swedish citizens, urging them to take action against individuals involved in Quran burnings during the summer of 2023.

On Tuesday, the Swedish Prosecutor's Office asserted that in 2023, the Iranian Intelligence Service (VAJA) had compromised an SMS provider in an attempt to incite individuals to take action against the protesters responsible for the Quran burning. The Swedish authorities did not provide any evidence.

Additionally, Sweden's intelligence agency, Sapo, reported in a separate statement that a hacker group had initiated a campaign aimed at depicting Sweden as an Islamophobic nation – a notion that became popular among Muslims due to Swedish authorities' firm support for the Quran burners.

In its statement, the embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly rejected Stockholm’s claims and characterized the accusations as unfounded. “Paying attention to the source of these news is enough to clearly understand that all these news are fake and propagandistic.”

The statement pointed out Sweden’s history of falsifying reports, criticizing the state for choosing to pressure Iran with unfounded assertions instead of paying attention to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. “In such a way, the Israeli regime and its spy services absolve themselves of the brutal killing of innocent people by producing fake news and reports with full confidence and shamelessly justify their shocking crimes.”

The embassy also called on Swedish media to maintain “professional independence” and refrain from trusting claims that are very obviously made under the influence of the Israeli regime. “Instead of deviating from the public opinion of the Swedish people, in line with the huge global trend, Swedish media should use its capacity to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime in Palestine.”