A video depicting the assassination of Sweden’s prime minister contains a “veiled threat” against politicians currently in power in the country, a terrorism expert has said.
An AI-generated animation featuring Lego characters depicting the murder of Olof Palme, who was assassinated in Stockholm 40 years ago, was posted on the social media accounts of the Iranian embassy in Sweden.
The video is the latest in a series of pro-Iran animations, most produced by a group calling itself Explosive Media, that have racked up hundreds of millions of views since the U.S. and Israeli offensive against Iran began on February 28.
Palme was shot dead on the street in the Swedish capital in February 1986 as he and his wife were returning home from the cinema.
Although no one has been convicted of the crime, prosecutors said Stig Engström, who committed suicide in 2000, was responsible for the murder.
The assassination fueled a number of conspiracy theories, some of which implicated South African intelligence and the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
The post on X begins with the message, “In memory of the assassinated Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, who opposed apartheid and nuclear weapons. The world continues to suffer from both.”
The animation is narrated and ends with the words, “When the powerful fall in the streets, who pulls the trigger?” Then another character falls out of the snow.
Magnus Ranstrup, a terrorism researcher at the Swedish National Defense University, said: The National: “It very much suggests a threat to Swedish politicians.”
he said: “If you look at the last five seconds, it’s ‘Who pulled the trigger?'” And then someone disappeared under the snow. why did they make this? When I saw this, I thought it was some kind of veiled threat. ”
Ranstorp said the video, about Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat killed by Jewish extremists in 1948, was “part of a coordinated disinformation campaign by all Iranian embassies.”
“The Iranian ambassador should be called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked, ‘Why are you doing this propaganda aimed at a Swedish audience?'” Ranstrup said.
Palme’s assassination shook Sweden’s self-image. The country’s leaders at the time did not usually have bodyguards, believing they would not be targeted in a country known for low crime and political stability.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour, an Iranian-born politician who represents the Sweden Democrats in parliament, called the video “absolutely bizarre.”
he said. The National Iranians were downplaying their national trauma. “I don’t really know what the message is other than that there must be distrust of Swedish institutions,” he said.
Swedish security officials increasingly view Iran as a threat. In 2024, they revealed that Tehran was recruiting local teenage criminals to attack Jewish and Israeli targets, including the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.
In particular, Rawa Majid, the founder of the Foxtrot criminal network, has been identified as a key figure in the Iranian effort, resulting in him being placed under UK and US sanctions.
A number of Iranian-Swedish nationals have been executed in Iran, most recently in March. Another dual citizen, Ahmadreza Jalali, was sentenced to death in 2017 and is being held in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
