Swedish Citizen Imprisoned in Iran for over a Year

Sweden’s government and the European Union Commission say a Swedish national is being detained in Iran, the latest known case of a foreign national being held by the Islamic Republic.

The New York Times earlier on September 4 reported that a Swedish citizen named Johan Floderus has been imprisoned in Iran for more than 500 days. The paper said he has been working for the EU diplomatic corps.

“A Swedish citizen – a man in his thirties – was detained in Iran in April 2022," Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said, adding: "The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran are working very intensively on the case and are maintaining close contact with the EU."

A spokesperson for the European Commission also confirmed that a Swedish national is being held in Iran, but declined to give further details.

Neither Sweden’s Foreign Ministry nor the EU spokesperson identified the man.

"In our assessment it would complicate the handling of the case if the ministry were to publicly discuss its actions,” the Swedish foreign ministry said. “In light of this, we see no reason to confirm any names."

Iranian officials did not comment about the case.

Western governments have repeatedly accused the Islamic Republic of taking dual and foreign nationals hostage for the sole purpose of using them in prisoner swaps or as a bargaining chip in international negotiations.

Relations between Stokholm and Tehran have been tense since 2019, when Sweden arrested a former Iranian official, Hamid Noury, for his involvement in the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s. Noury was sentenced to life in prison last year, prompting the Islamic Republic to recall its envoy to Sweden in protest.

In May this year, Iran executed Habib Chaab, an Iranian-Swedish dual citizen accused of leading an Arab separatist group Tehran blamed for a 2018 attack on a military parade that killed 25 people and left 70 others injured.

Chaab, who had been living in Sweden for more than a decade, was abducted during a visit to Turkey in 2020 and smuggled to Iran.