Norwegian Authorities Reportedly Arrest Student For Spying On US Embassy In Service Of Iran, Russia

Norwegian authorities arrested a university student and U.S. embassy security guard Wednesday for allegedly spying on the U.S. embassy in Oslo on behalf of Iran and Russia, according to reports.

The student, in his 20s, was taken into custody in his residence’s garage, the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK reported. He was accused of attempted gross intelligence activities against state secrets. The student has been detained for four weeks. A detention order from an Oslo court claimed that the suspect confessed to gathering information and providing it to Russian and Iranian actors, according to the outlet.

Investigators alleged that the suspect had been communicating with someone who had been instructing and guiding him.

The suspect could be jailed for 10 years if found guilty, the outlet reported. He also allegedly shared intelligence that could damage other countries’ interests. This accusation could earn him a three-year prison sentence if he is found guilty. (RELATED: Jury Convicts Man Of Spying For Foreign Government)

A Security Guard at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, Norway has been Arrested by the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), for Charges of Espionage on behalf of Russia and Iran; with Police having raided his Home on Wednesday, during which several Digital Devices were Confiscated. pic.twitter.com/sCuMkNc0OM

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) November 22, 2024

The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) had been looking into the case since Monday and said it seized a large number of digital files related to the alleged espionage, NRK reported. “It is too early to say what has been shared and what has been attempted to be shared,” police prosecutor Thomas Blom told reporters Thursday evening. “We are at the very beginning of a fairly extensive investigation.”

The PST has been working with the American authorities in investigating the case, Blom added.

The suspect’s attorney John Christian Elden told NRK his client has worked on behalf of a foreign country.

The suspect has managed a security company he co-owns with a Norwegian dual citizen of an Eastern European country according to the outlet. He also worked as a security guard at the U.S. embassy, police said. Authorities licensed the company in November 2023 but are now reviewing their approval, police told NRK. The company was established to offer security services at embassies but has no registered employees. The firm has also failed to publish any income or expenditures, according to accounts obtained by the outlet.

The suspect is reportedly also a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree focused on security and preparedness at UiT–The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, according to the university. Prof. Dag Rune Olsen, the university’s rector, told NRK the arrest surprised the university and that they would work with those who had contact with the suspect. The university said it was neither alerted ahead of the arrest nor informed that the allegations were related to his studies there.

Norwegian authorities arrested a Russian national named Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin in 2022 on charges of spying for Russia, NRK reported. He was working at the UiT ostensibly for research purposes while disguised as a Brazilian guest researcher named José Assis Giammaria. His UiT mentor, Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv, told NRK she felt betrayed as she did not suspect that he could be a spy. (RELATED: UK Lawmaker’s Researcher Among Five Alleged Chinese Spies Arrested In UK, Germany)

Mikushin became part of a large August 2024 prisoner swap that saw the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US Marine Paul Whelan — both Americans — and famous British-Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza freed, according to the BBC.

Olsen told NRK it was unfortunate that the UiT was being allegedly linked to yet another espionage case but that there was little the university could do beyond working with and trusting the authorities.

The Daily Caller reached out to Norway’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security but did not hear back as of the time of publication.