The EU is working “tirelessly” to get Swede Johan Floderus home from Iran, reports AFP.
This was announced by the Swedish top diplomat and the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, on Tuesday.
– Every time we have had diplomatic meetings, at all levels, we have raised the issue – tirelessly, he says.
When Borrell arrived at an EU summit in the Spanish city of Cadiz on Tuesday, he took the opportunity to comment on the case of the detained Swede.
– I want to say something about, if you allow me, a specific case, the case of Mr. Floderus. He is a Swedish citizen who worked for the EU and has been illegally imprisoned in Iran for the past 500 days, says Josep Borrell.
“Will not stop until Floderus is free”
Iran announced last July that it had arrested a man suspected of espionage. This two weeks after the Iranian citizen Hamid Noury was sentenced to life in prison in Sweden – for his involvement in the Iranian regime’s mass executions of thousands of opponents in 1988.
Iran is believed to have arrested Flodeus in order to be able to use the Swede for a prisoner exchange with Noury.
Several capitals have accused Iran of practicing “hostage diplomacy”: arresting Western citizens in exchange for concessions such as the release of imprisoned Iranians, reports AFP.
– This is high on our agenda, in our hearts – and we will not stop until Floderus is free, says Josep Borrell.
Cold facts: The Noury case
The suspected mass murderer Hamid Noury is lured to Sweden so that he can be arrested. At the same time, there is concern about how the Iranian regime will react.