Johan Floderus, a Swedish European Union diplomat detained in Tehran, and Hamid Noury, a former senior Iranian prison official, were released as part of a prisoner exchange between Sweden and Iran on 15 June 2024.
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L‘Iran and the Sweden announced on Saturday a prisoner exchange with the releases of a Swedish European Union diplomat detained by Tehran and a senior Iranian official imprisoned in Sweden. The freed prisoners were on their way back to their country on Saturday afternoon, via Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate ofOmanwho served as an intermediary in the negotiations between Stockholm and Tehran, according to the Omani press agency.
Sweden announced the releases of Johan Floderus, an EU diplomat detained in Iran since April 2022, accused of espionage and facing the death penalty, and Saeed Azizi, arrested in November 2023. They are on the way back “ and will finally find their loved ones welcomed the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson.
Ulf Kristersson did not reveal the terms of the exchange, but called it “ difficult » the decisions taken by his country while Tehran had made Floderus and Azizi « pawns in a cynical negotiation game, with the aim of freeing Iranian citizen Hamid Noury from prison in Sweden “. For its part, Iran announced that the latter, a former senior prison administration official, would return to his country at the end of the afternoon.
Read alsoBehind the trial of Hamid Noury in Sweden, the shadow of the new Iranian president
Incarcerations which strained relations between Sweden and Iran
Hamid Noury, “ illegally detained in Sweden since 2019, is free and will return in a few hours “, declared the head of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights, Kazem Gharibabadi. This 63-year-old Iranian was arrested in 2019 in Stockholm and then sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the mass executions of opponents ordered by Tehran in 1988.
The prisoners’ file has greatly strained relations between Sweden and Iran in recent years, which demanded the release of Hamid Noury and criticized a biased trial. This exchange of detainees comes three days after the release of Frenchman Louis Arnaud, who had been detained in Iran since September 2022.
Read alsoFrenchman Louis Arnaud returns to France after a year and a half of detention in Iran
The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen declared: delighted » of his release, as well as the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who assured to do everything for the Europeans “ still arbitrarily detained in Iran. »
Delighted at the news that our Swedish colleague Johan Floderus and his compatriot Saeed Azizi have been released from unjustified Iranian custody.
I wish them a good reunion with their loved ones.
Congratulations to Sweden for its persistent work to achieve this outcome.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 15, 2024
Iran still detains eight Europeans, including three French.