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SWEDEN AND IRAN

Swedish citizen arrested in Iran

Iranian authorities have detained a Swedish man, Stockholm said Friday, threatening to strain already tense ties between the countries.

Published: 7 May 2022 12:00 CEST
The flag of Iran waves in front of the the International Center building in Vienna, Austria.
The flag of Iran waves in front of the the International Center building in Vienna, Austria. Photo: Florian Schroetter/TT

Sweden’s foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that a Swedish man in his 30s “has recently been detained”.

“The embassy in Tehran is seeking further information in the matter and is in contact with local authorities,” it said in an email, providing no further details.

Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported the man was on holiday together with other Swedes when he was detained.

Relations between Sweden and Iran are already tense over a trial in Stockholm against an Iranian ex-prison official accused of war crimes over his alleged role in a 1988 purge of dissidents.

READ ALSO: Swedish court to give verdict in Iranian war crimes trial in July

Hamid Noury, 61, was arrested at a Stockholm airport in November 2019 after Iranian dissidents in Sweden filed police complaints against him.

The trial ended on Wednesday with the court due to issue a verdict in July. Earlier this week, Iran’s foreign ministry demanded Noury’s release, saying it considered his arrest and trial “illegal”.

Meanwhile, the Iranian news agency Isna reported this week that Iran plans to execute Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was sentenced to death in 2017 for spying for Israel, before May 21.

The Swedish foreign ministry last week advised its nationals against non-essential travel to Iran.

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SWEDEN AND IRAN

Imprisoned Swedish-Iranian academic Djalali set to go on hunger strike

Swedish-Iranian researcher Ahmadreza Djalali, who is on death row in Iran over what human rights groups consider to be fabricated charges of espionage, will begin a hunger strike on Wednesday, his wife, Vida Mehrannia, told The Local. 

Published: 25 June 2024 06:35 CEST
Imprisoned Swedish-Iranian academic Djalali set to go on hunger strike

The hunger strike is in protest of being left out of a controversial prisoner exchange with Iran, which saw two other Swedish citizens return home this month. The Swedish government has argued it tried to get Djalali out too, but Iran refused to discuss his case.

“Ahmadreza now feels he had no option but to go on hunger strike. He has already suffered nearly 3,000 days of unimaginable torment in Iran’s dungeons and is in extremely poor health. He suffers from several medical conditions including heart arrhythmias, bracycardia, hypotension, chronic gastritis, anemia, and extreme weight loss following his previous two hunger strikes,” said Mehrannia in a statement sent to The Local and other Swedish media.

“This hunger strike is highly life threatening, Ahmadreza knows this better than anyone else – but he sees no other option. This physician, loving husband, and father of two, wants to be reunited with his family. He wants to serve society once more as a dedicated doctor. He wants to be recognised and treated as a human being again. Ahmadreza is now pleading to the world for help. He needs this endless brutality to end. Please hear his anguished plea and amplify his voice with yours,” she added.

Amnesty International has called on Sweden’s government to “do everything” to ensure Djalali can return.

“Mr Prime Minister, you decided to leave me behind under huge risk of being executed,” Djalali said in a recent audio recording shared with Swedish media, in which he dared Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to meet his son in front of TV cameras and tell him “why you left his father behind”.

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