Old Bailey hears Norwegian teen deny UK Foxtrot murder plot
Prosecutors at the Old Bailey say Johannes Kongsnes Natland, a 19-year-old Norwegian, travelled from Stavanger to Manchester in March 2025 to carry out a paid killing for the Foxtrot Network; Natland denies conspiracy to murder but has admitted possession of two firearms and ammunition. The court has heard that handlers using aliases including Agent 47 and Generalen allegedly directed him to cash, weapons and an unidentified target after he arrived in England. Natland told the jury he did not intend to kill anyone and feared the network would harm him or his family if he withdrew. The case matters beyond Britain because the UK government has sanctioned Foxtrot and Rawa Majid, saying the Swedish-based network has acted against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of Iran. A 2024 research analysis also identified Brussels as one of the European places where alleged proxy activity had appeared.
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The Iran Conflict: Nuclear, Regional and Diplomatic
The decades-long confrontation between Iran and its adversaries — the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and proxies across the region — covering the nuclear file, sanctions, the JCPOA collapse, the post-October 2023 escalation, and current diplomatic openings.
About this story
Johannes Kongsnes Natland (Norwegian defendant, 19, from Stavanger) is on trial in London over an alleged murder conspiracy. Stavanger (south-west Norwegian city and oil-sector hub) is his home city. The Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court of England and Wales in London) hears serious criminal cases. Manchester Airport (major north-west England airport) was Natland's arrival point on 17 March 2025, according to prosecutors. Huddersfield (West Yorkshire town between Manchester and Leeds) is where police arrested him at the Briar Court Hotel (local hotel named in court). Foxtrot Network (Swedish organised-crime group associated with gang violence and sanctions) is the alleged commissioning network. Rawa Majid (Swedish-Turkish crime figure also known as the Kurdish Fox) is named by UK sanctions as Foxtrot's leader. Agent 47 and Generalen (aliases cited in court) are alleged handlers or intermediaries. Säpo (Sweden's domestic security service) has publicly linked Iranian services to Swedish criminal networks.
How to read this story
The history
The alleged plot fits a wider pattern identified by security agencies and researchers. Säpo said in May 2024 that Iran was using criminal networks in Sweden as proxies against Israeli or Jewish interests. The UK government said in April 2025 that Britain had responded to more than 20 Iran-backed plots since early 2022 and sanctioned Foxtrot and Rawa Majid under the 2023 Iran Sanctions Regulations. A 2024 Washington Institute and ICCT analysis said Iranian external operations in Europe increased after a foiled 2018 Iranian bomb plot near Paris and that criminal intermediaries now feature more often.
The geopolitics
The broader issue is Iran's alleged use of deniable proxies in Europe while avoiding direct state responsibility. Researchers and Western officials describe this as a way to pressure dissidents, Israeli-linked targets and Jewish communities without openly deploying state officers. That blurs the line between organised crime, terrorism, sanctions policy and counterintelligence.
Why now
The story is timely because Natland is currently giving evidence at the Old Bailey in a live conspiracy-to-murder trial, and because UK sanctions against Foxtrot in April 2025 have made the network's alleged Iran links part of a wider European security debate.
What to watch
Watch for the Old Bailey verdict on conspiracy to murder, any sentencing on the admitted firearms offences, and whether UK or Nordic authorities disclose further charges against alleged handlers. European signals to monitor include new sanctions designations and any EU debate on treating the IRGC or proxy networks differently.
Regional impact
The effects differ by level. The UK courts are testing the criminal allegation against Natland. Sweden and Norway sit closer to the alleged recruitment chain because Foxtrot is Swedish-based and Natland is Norwegian. Belgium's relevance is primarily Brussels security: a 2024 research analysis linked alleged Foxtrot activity to an airsoft-grenade incident at Israel's embassy in Belgium. At EU level, the issue feeds broader questions on sanctions, intelligence sharing and whether member states treat proxy violence as organised crime, state threat activity or terrorism.
Local impact
The most local Belgian angle is Brussels, where embassies, EU institutions and Jewish community sites concentrate security attention. A 2024 Washington Institute and ICCT analysis linked alleged Foxtrot activity to an airsoft-grenade incident at Israel's embassy in Belgium, making the Natland trial relevant to Brussels security planners even though the proceedings are in London.
International angle
The case sits across Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, with Iran-linked allegations giving it a wider European security dimension. UK sanctions, Säpo warnings and research on Iranian external operations all point to the same strategic concern: criminal groups can move people, weapons and instructions across borders faster than national systems usually respond.
What this means for you
There is no immediate change for ordinary Belgian residents. The practical takeaway is situational rather than procedural: schools, parents, community organisations and security officials should take online recruitment and encrypted-chat coercion seriously, while Brussels institutions and diplomatic sites can expect continued attention to hostile-state and organised-crime overlaps.
What happens next
The Old Bailey trial is continuing, and jurors will have to decide whether prosecutors have proved conspiracy to murder beyond the admitted firearms offences. Separately, European governments are likely to keep watching Foxtrot-linked investigations, sanctions enforcement and intelligence-sharing channels, especially where alleged proxy activity touches diplomatic sites or Jewish and Israeli institutions.
Potential consequences
If prosecutors prove the conspiracy, the case could reinforce European warnings that online recruitment and organised crime can become tools of hostile-state activity. If the defence succeeds on intent, it may still leave security services with the problem of young recruits travelling across borders with weapons. For Belgium, the practical consequence is likely heightened attention to diplomatic-site protection and intelligence cooperation rather than any immediate change for the public.
Opposing perspectives
- Natland defence
Natland's defence, as described in court evidence, frames him as a frightened and immature recruit who made reckless choices but did not intend to kill. The strongest version is that possession of weapons and bravado in messages do not prove murderous intent if he was trying to survive pressure from a violent network.
- UK prosecutors and security authorities
UK prosecutors frame the case as an interrupted contract killing: Natland allegedly travelled, collected firearms and remained in contact with handlers. The UK government's sanctions position strengthens the wider security reading by treating Foxtrot as a network used for violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe.
- Swedish security services
Säpo's position is that Iranian-linked use of Swedish criminal networks is not only gang crime but a state-threat problem requiring international cooperation. That frame sees the Natland case as part of a broader proxy method, even if each criminal trial must prove individual guilt separately.
Timeline
- 2024-05-30·Säpo publicly accused Iran of using criminal networks in Sweden to target Israeli or Jewish interests.
- 2025-03-17·Prosecutors say Natland arrived at Manchester Airport from Stavanger.
- 2025-03-19·Police arrested Natland at the Briar Court Hotel in Huddersfield, according to court reporting.
- 2025-04-14·The UK government sanctioned the Foxtrot Network and Rawa Majid.
- 2026-06-03·The Old Bailey trial opened with prosecutors setting out the alleged Foxtrot-linked murder plot.
- 2026-06-11·Natland gave evidence denying that he intended to act as a professional hitman.
Glossary
- Old Bailey
- The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, a London court that hears serious criminal cases.
- Säpo
- Sweden's domestic security service, formally the Swedish Security Service.
- Foreign Influence Registration Scheme
- A UK system requiring certain foreign-influence arrangements to be registered; Iran was placed on its enhanced tier in 2025.
- Asset freeze
- A sanctions measure that prevents dealings with funds or economic resources owned or controlled by a designated person or entity.
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This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.