The Foxtrot Network, a European crime organization with ties to the Iranian regime, has recruited multiple teenagers to commit murder on its behalf, including against Israeli targets, the BBC reported on Saturday.
According to the BBC, the Foxtrot Network is thought to be responsible for around 35 murders and several attacks and attempted attacks against Israeli targets in Europe since 2022.
The group routinely offers to pay teenagers to commit the crimes, the BBC reported. The teenagers are often caught by authorities during or after their attempted attack, meaning that the Foxtrot Network rarely needs to pay the money promised to them.
Diamant Salihu, a Swedish investigative journalist researching Foxtrot, stated that the organization has a "deliberate policy to recruit younger and younger teenagers because they don't think about the consequences of getting caught, and they are more willing to take the risks."
Last week, a Norwegian teenager was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by the Foxtrot Network.
Johannes Natland, now 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March last year with two firearms and ammunition in his possession.
Prosecutor Alistair Richardson told jurors that Natland was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, after someone using the name "Agent 47" organized hiring an assassin with €25,000 ($28,500) "in the pot" to pay for it.
Foxtrot Network leader based in Iran
The leader of the Foxtrot Network, Rawa Majid, is reportedly based in Tehran, and Salihu told the BBC that the Iranian regime is ordering Majid to attack Iran's enemies.
"He had to make a deal to be able to live freely in Iran, under the condition that he and his network work for the regime," Salihu explained.
The targets that the Iranian regime could aim the Foxtrot Network at could include dissidents, journalists, or Israeli targets, Salihu stated.
UK, US impose sanctions on Foxtrot Network
In April 2025, the UK imposed sanctions on the Foxtrot Network and on Majid, with then-UK foreign secretary David Lammy saying that it had targeted Jewish and Israeli targets across Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.
That March, the United States also sanctioned the criminal organization, accusing it of being involved in trafficking illegal drugs, as well as having "carried out attacks on Israelis and Jews in Europe, along with its fugitive leader Rawa Majid."
Iran rejected the accusation, with the Iranian embassy in London stating that "The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects the allegations connecting the Iranian government to the activities of a Swedish-based criminal gang, known as Foxtrot.
Reuters and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.