Summoning of the Swedish Ambassador to the Iranian Foreign Ministry Due to Granting Citizenship to Ahmad Reza Jalali

On Tuesday, February 19, the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced the summoning of the Swedish ambassador in Tehran due to the "granting of citizenship" to Ahmad Reza Jalali. The Swedish Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that the government of Sweden granted citizenship to Ahmad Reza Jalali, a doctor and professor at a research institute who has been sentenced to death in Iran on charges of "espionage." According to Fars News Agency, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated that the director general of consular affairs of this ministry summoned the Swedish ambassador in Tehran on Tuesday. Bahram Qasemi described the granting of citizenship to Ahmad Reza Jalali while he is sentenced to death in Iran as an "unconventional, questionable, and unfriendly" action. According to this report, the director general of consular affairs told the Swedish ambassador that according to the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmad Reza Jalali's acquired and foreign citizenship is "not accepted" and he remains a citizen of Iran. The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated: "In no country is dual citizenship granted to a criminal who has confessed to murder and is in prison and detention; the recent action of the Swedish government is very strange, unprincipled, and questionable." While the spokesperson claims that Ahmad Reza Jalali has confessed to "murder," Iranian judicial officials had not previously raised such an accusation. The Revolutionary Court sentenced Ahmad Reza Jalali to death for "espionage for Israel." Meanwhile, the Iranian Supreme Court has rejected the request to review Ahmad Reza Jalali's death sentence. The news of granting citizenship to Ahmad Reza Jalali by Sweden came after his lawyer stated last week: "The judge rejected our request in less than an hour." The spokesperson for the Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed the granting of citizenship to Ahmad Reza Jalali on Saturday, stating: "We are in regular contact with Iranian representatives and have asked them to facilitate communication with Jalali. We have conveyed Sweden's view on the death penalty to them and stated that we condemn the death penalty in any form. Our request is that the death penalty not be carried out." Previously, activists and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly called for the cancellation of Ahmad Reza Jalali's death sentence. Amnesty International also mentioned receiving a letter from Jalali stating that he was arrested and tried because he refused to spy for Iran. Mahmoud Sadqi, a reformist member of the Iranian Parliament, also stated that Ahmad Reza Jalali was not given sufficient opportunity to defend himself during the proceedings. Sadqi also added that the video of Jalali's confessions broadcast on Iranian television was obtained under pressure.