Sweden Summons Iranian Chargé d'Affaires and Demands Release of Swedish Citizens

The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday that it has summoned the Chargé d'Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran and demanded the immediate release of Swedish citizens detained in Iran. The Swedish Foreign Ministry stated in a press release: "The government is working tirelessly and vigorously to secure the release of Swedish citizens who have been detained in Iran without any justification." The statement continued: "In late 2023, a man with Swedish and Iranian citizenship was detained without any clear reason." According to Reuters, the ministry reported this week that a Swedish man in his early 20s was also detained in Iran in early January. In 2019, Sweden arrested Hamid Nouri, a former judicial official of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for his role in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s. Experts say that the Islamic Republic uses false charges to detain foreign citizens, especially those with dual nationality, to use them as political bargaining chips, effectively taking these citizens hostage. Last month, the Islamic Republic began the trial of a Swedish citizen named Johan Flodros, an EU employee who has been imprisoned in Iran since April 2022. He was accused of espionage for Israel and "corruption on earth," a vague charge that Iranian officials have previously used for executions. The Swedish Foreign Ministry has advised Swedish citizens not to travel to Iran. Sweden: The Islamic Republic has detained a young Swedish citizen. The fourth court session for Johan Flodros, the imprisoned Swedish citizen in Iran, was held.