24-7-2025
A Norwegian student in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia and Iran while working as a guard at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, authorities in Norway have said.
The man, who has not been identified, was ordered to be held in custody for four weeks. He runs a security company jointly with a dual national of Norway and an unspecified eastern European country, according to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
Oslo police said Friday they would review the company’s operating license.
Norway’s domestic intelligence agency, PST, said Thursday night that the man was arrested in his garage at home on Wednesday on suspicion of having damaged national security with his intelligence-related activity.
The arrest warrant from the district court, says, among other things, that the police found records of the man’s assignment dialogue with a person who was apparently guiding his espionage activity, according to NRK.
The suspect’s attorney, John Christian Elden, told NRK that the man admits he worked for a foreign country but does not plead guilty to espionage.
“He is charged with having obtained information that could harm the security situation of third countries,” Elden said.
It was revealed Friday that the man is studying for a bachelor’s degree in security and preparedness at Norway’s Arctic University, UiT.
It is a second such case at UiT in recent years, according to NRK.
One of the people the West swapped with Russia in a major prisoner exchange in August was a UiT guest researcher who claimed to be a Brazilian named José Assis Giammaria, arrested on espionage allegations in 2022. The police revealed him to be Russian, Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin. AP