The Tehran Province Court of Appeals has upheld the five-year sentence for Saeed Azizi, a 60-year-old Iranian-Swedish dual national.
Azizi, currently incarcerated in Tehran's Evin Prison, was initially handed the five-year term for charges of "assembly and collusion against national security" by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
He was arrested by Iranian security forces on November 12, 2023, at his house shortly after his return from Sweden to Iran.
His lawyer had emphasized Azizi's deteriorating health condition, citing prostate cancer and injuries sustained from a fall in prison.
Other cases include Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish physician and researcher arrested in 2016, and Johan Floderus, a Swedish diplomat working for the European Union detained in April 2022, both facing accusations of espionage.
The Swedish government has expressed deep concern over the detention of its citizens, demanding their immediate release.
In January, Sweden called for Azizi's release, stating that Iran had detained him "without any specific reason."
Western governments and rights groups 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.
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