European officials are raising alarms about Iran’s regime reportedly recruiting children to carry out attacks on Israeli targets in Europe.
According to Bloomberg News, there have been multiple incidents where Iranian-backed groups have enlisted minors to carry out terrorist actions against Israeli interests.
A report detailed several examples: A 15-year-old in Stockholm was found with a gun and attempted to reach the Israeli embassy. In Gothenburg, a 13-year-old was apprehended for shooting at the Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems, while a 16-year-old at the same facility helped plant explosives outside the main entrance. In May, security forces in Brussels discovered that children as young as 14 were organizing an attack on the Israeli embassy.
Iran’s strategy is to use proxies to hire children, allowing for a level of plausible deniability in case of retaliation or exposure.
The report highlighted that Nordic countries are particularly susceptible, given their history of being open societies with limited surveillance and high levels of trust.
One reason for targeting children is that the legal consequences they face are minimal. In countries like Sweden and Norway, minors under 15 cannot even be prosecuted, meaning their criminal activity often results in little to no punishment, the report noted.
Iranian-backed groups have been reported to pay children up to $1,500 for a killing or a few hundred dollars for an attack involving a “petrol bomb,” according to the report.
In some cases, the children recruited may not even fully understand the tasks they are being asked to perform.
“There are cases where the proxies aren’t aware or don’t realize that they are acting on behalf of a foreign power,” the Swedish Security Service stated earlier this year.
{Matzav.com}