The Trump administration has announced a bevy of new sanctions against an Iranian-linked Swedish gang that coordinated an attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
The sanctions freeze assets for members and those affiliated with the Foxtrot Network, a transnational criminal organization that the Treasury Department said is one of the most “prominent” drug trafficking organizations in the region. The sanctions also single out and target the group’s fugitive leader, Rawa Majid.
“Iran’s brazen use of transnational criminal organizations and narcotics traffickers underscores the regime’s attempts to achieve its aims through any means, with no regard for the cost to communities across Europe,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a Wednesday statement. “Treasury, alongside our U.S. government and international partners, will continue to hold accountable those who seek to further Iran’s thuggish and destabilizing agenda.”
In addition to trafficking drugs, the Foxtrot Network is a criminal organization that conducts violent acts, including shootings, contract killings and assaults, and is responsible for increased violence in Sweden. It is notorious for employing teenagers to conduct violent acts, according to the Treasury Department.
Iran has increasingly utilized criminal networks to conduct attacks targeting the U.S. as well as attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe, the Treasury Department said.
Notably, the agency accused Iran of colluding with the Foxtrot Network to conduct an attack on the Israeli Embassy in 2024 after Swedish officials identified a “dangerous object” believed to be an explosive device at the embassy. While security forces neutralized the device, Sweden’s security police moved to investigate the attack as a “terrorist crime.” (RELATED: Multiple Explosions Rock European Capital)
The Treasury Department also said on Wednesday that Majid has coordinated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, which is already under U.S. sanctions, and faces charges in Sweden pertaining to narcotics and firearms trafficking.
The sanctions against Majid and the Foxtrot Network align with President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran, which was reinstated in February.
Trump signaled Friday a nuclear deal with Iran is ion the works, and he revealed that he sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to push for Tehran to agree to a nuclear agreement. Otherwise, he said Tehran could count on facing military consequences.
“I would rather negotiate a deal,” Trump told Fox Business in an interview Sunday. “I’m not sure that everybody agrees with me, but we can make a deal that would be just as good as if you won militarily.”
“But the time is happening now, the time is coming up,” he said. “Something is going to happen one way or the other. I hope that Iran, and I’ve written them a letter saying I hope you’re going to negotiate, because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing for them.”
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The Swedes, like all other countries in Europe are finding that it has been a major mistake to let large numbers from other cultures into their countries, which have been relatively free of violence amongst their own peoples. Admitting other, somewhat violent, cultures into their midst for no good reason has upset the peaceful nature of the region and brought their citizens a great deal of grief. Homelands are important for people, and they should not be relinquished for unpleasant consequences. Sweden is the homeland of the SWEDES.