OSLO, Norway — A former security guard at the US Embassy in Norway has been indicted by prosecutors there on suspicion of espionage after he allegedly spied for Russia and Iran, state broadcaster NRK said Wednesday.

The broadcaster reported that the United States’ ties to Israel and the war in Gaza prompted the man to contact the two countries. Iran is a chief regional adversary of Israel, and fought a war with it last month, while Russia is a rival of the US.

The Norwegian man, whose name has not been made public, was arrested last November on suspicion of having damaged national security. He is accused of handing over details about the embassy’s diplomats, its floor plans and security routines, among other things, NRK reported.

He faces up to 21 years in prison, NRK reported.

His defense attorney, Inger Zadig, said her client acknowledges the indictment’s facts but denies any criminal guilt. She said the information he shared did not pose an illegal risk.

“At its core, this case concerns legal interpretation — specifically, whether, and to what extent, the information in question was ‘classified’ under the law, and whether it was capable of harming fundamental national interests,” she wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “If not, then sharing the information is not a criminal offense. Our client did not hold a security clearance, and his access to information that could threaten vital national interests was more or less non-existent. These issues will be thoroughly addressed in court.”

The US Embassy and the prosecutor’s office did not respond to AP’s requests for comment.

Last year, Norway joined Ireland and Spain in announcing that they would recognize a Palestinian state, sparking a diplomatic row with Israel. The countries said the move would advance peace in the Middle East. Israel has said such recognition serves as a reward for the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that launched the Gaza war.

At the time of his arrest, the suspect had been studying for a bachelor’s degree in security and preparedness at Norway’s Arctic University, UiT. It is the second such case at the school in recent years, according to NRK.

One of the people Western countries swapped with Russia in a major prisoner exchange last year 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 a Russian named Mikhail Valeryevich Mikushin.

Norway has a 198-kilometer (123-mile) long border with Russia in the Arctic. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Norway has heavily restricted the entry of Russian nationals.

Last year, the Norwegian government said it was considering a plan to build a fence along all or part of its border with Russia.

Lazar Berman and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.