Norwegian teen sentenced to 20 years for UK murder plot tied to Iran-linked group

A Norwegian teenager who planned to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by a Swedish organised crime group linked to the Iranian government was on Friday sentenced to 20 years’ detention. Johannes Natland, now 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March 2025 with two firearms and ammunition in his possession. Natland was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group used by the Iranian state and sanctioned by both Britain and the United States, prosecutors said. He admitted possessing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and ammunition, but denied conspiracy to murder and claimed he did not intend to carry out the plan. But he was convicted in July after a retrial and was sentenced at London’s Woolwich Crown Court to detention for 20 years. Natland was the latest young adult to stand trial in Britain and elsewhere over serious criminal acts allegedly carried out after being recruited online for money, often as an unwitting proxy for a foreign state.