Former safety guard at U.S. Embassy in Norway convicted of spying for Russia, Iran

A former safety guard on the U.S. Embassy in Norway was convicted of espionage on Wednesday (October 15, 2025) after a courtroom in Oslo discovered that he spied for Russia and Iran.

The 28-year-old Norwegian man, whose identify has not been made public, was sentenced to 3 years and 7 months behind bars. He had acknowledged the indictment’s details however denied any prison guilt.

Prosecutors stated he handed over particulars in regards to the embassy’s diplomats, its flooring plans and safety routines, amongst different issues, Norwegian state broadcaster NRK reported. The broadcaster reported that American ties to Israel and the battle in Gaza prompted the person to contact Russia and Iran.

The man’s defence attorneys, in an announcement on Thursday (October 16), stated the decision raises questions on what is taken into account espionage underneath Norwegian regulation.

“He lied about having safety clearance to brokers from different international locations and exaggerated his personal position,” Attorney Inger Zadig of Elden Law Firm stated within the assertion.

“He had roughly the identical degree of entry as a janitor on the Embassy. The data he shared was nugatory and neither individually nor collectively able to harming people or the safety pursuits of any State.”

The defendant was discovered responsible of 5 espionage-related fees and acquitted of gross corruption. His defence attorneys are weighing whether or not to attraction the decision, whereas prosecutor Carl Fredrik Fari stated his workforce is contemplating interesting the sentence as a result of the state had requested for greater than six years in jail.

At the time of his arrest final November, the person had been learning for a bachelor’s diploma in safety and preparedness at Norway’s Arctic University, UiT.

It is a second such case at UiT in recent times, in response to NRK.

One of the folks the West swapped with Russia in a significant prisoner alternate final yr was a UiT visitor researcher who claimed to be a Brazilian named Jose Assis Giammaria, arrested on espionage allegations in 2022. The police revealed him to be a Russian nationwide by the identify of Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin.

Norway has a 198-kilometre lengthy border with Russia within the Arctic. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Norway has closely restricted entry for Russian nationals.

Last yr, the Norwegian authorities stated it was contemplating a plan to construct a fence alongside all or a part of its border with Russia.