A young Norwegian man was imprisoned for 20 years for planning an Iran-linked murder in Britain

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A British court on Friday sentenced a young Norwegian man to 20 years in prison who was planning to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by a Swedish organized crime group linked to the Iranian government. Johannes Naatland, currently 19 years old, was arrested in a hotel room in the city of Huddersfield in northern England in March 2025, and he was in possession of two firearms and ammunition.

Prosecutors said Natland was recruited by the Foxtrot network, a Swedish organized crime group used by the Iranian state and sanctioned by both Britain and the United States. Last year, the British government announced sanctions on the Foxtrot network and its leader, “due to their involvement in acts of violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.”

These sanctions include an asset freeze, which prevents British companies from dealing with funds or any other economic assets controlled by this organization.

He admitted to possessing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolving pistol and ammunition, but denied conspiring to murder and claimed that he did not intend to carry out the plan. The young man was convicted in July after a retrial, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison at Woolwich Crown Court in London.

Natland was recruited by a 17-year-old boy known as "The General." A court in Norway convicted this boy last year on charges of attempting to "contribute to murder" and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. Another boy, aged 16, is also awaiting trial in Norway for his role in this plot.

Natland is the latest young man to stand trial in Britain and elsewhere on charges relating to serious crimes he is believed to have committed after being recruited online for money, often as a proxy tool of a foreign state without his full knowledge of it.