Agencies-Gaza post
Iran kidnaps Swedish man on espionage charges
Iran kidnapped on Saturday a Swedish resident on espionage charges, the official IRNA news agency reported, after a court in Stockholm convicted a former Iranian official for war crimes earlier this month.
Iran captured dozens of foreigners and dual-nationals in recent years, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.
Rights groups call that a tactic to win benefits from abroad by inventing charges, which Tehran rejects.
‘The suspect had been under surveillance by the intelligence ministry during several previous trips to Iran’
“The suspect had been under surveillance by the intelligence ministry during several previous trips to Iran because of [their] suspicious behavior and contacts,” IRNA said the Iranian intelligence ministry statement as saying.
It did not give a word or say when the detention was made, but added that the suspect had a history of going to the Palestinian territories, went to non-tourist goals in Iran, and contacted people, including Europeans, under surveillance.
The intelligence ministry statement charged Sweden with “proxy spying” on behalf of Iran’s arch-foe Israel, which it stated would draw a “proportional reaction” from Iran.
Sweden’s foreign ministry reported it was aware of the case.
A spokesperson asserted the case was that of a Swedish man whom the foreign ministry had said in May had been detained in Iran. Tehran did not report that arrest at that time.
Difficult relations
Associations between Sweden and Iran have been difficult since Sweden detained and put on trial a former Iranian official on charges of war crimes for the mass performance and torture of political prisoners at an Iranian prison in the 1980s.
On 14 July, a Swedish court convicted the man, Hamid Noury, to life in prison. Iran condemned the case as politically motivated.
Among other strangers and dual-nationals currently held in Iran is Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian researcher sentenced to death on accusations of spying for Israel.
Djalali was charged in Iran on suspicion of espionage in 2016.
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In May, the court ruled out any exchange between Djalali and Noury.
“Djalali has been sentenced to death on several charges and the verdict is final. The sentence will be carried out,” spokesperson Zabihollah Khodaian said, speaking at a press meeting in Tehran.
The two files “have nothing to do with each other… therefore, there is no question of an exchange”.
He did not say when the commission would take part.
Last week, a British campaigner detained in Iran was temporarily released with an electronic tag, which the UK government authorized.
Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American wildlife conservationist who has UK citizenship, was freed from Tehran’s infamous Evin jail, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said on 27 July.
