Sweden and Iran have successfully executed a prisoner exchange agreement, leading to significant developments in diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Kazem Gharibabadi, Secretary of the Iranian Human Rights Committee, announced on Saturday that Sweden has released former Iranian official Hamid Noury.
Nouri, who was convicted for his involvement in the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988, is set to return to Iran within a few hours, according to Gharibabadi’s statement on the social media platform X.
A spokesperson for the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet commented on these reports.
In a separate statement, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi, who were detained in Iran, are on a flight back to Sweden.
Kristersson condemned Iran for using the two Swedish citizens as “pawns in a cynical negotiation game to secure the release of Iranian citizen Hamid Noury, who was imprisoned in Sweden for committing serious crimes in Iran in the 1980s.”
Kristersson emphasized his responsibility for the safety of Swedish citizens, noting that the government has been working intensively on this case, alongside Swedish security services, which negotiated with Iran.
Hamid Noury, 63, was arrested at Stockholm Airport in 2019 and was later sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes, including the mass execution and torture of political prisoners in an Iranian prison in 1988. Nouri has denied all charges.
On the other hand, Iranian authorities detained Floderus in 2022, charging him with espionage for Israel and “corruption on earth,” a crime that carries the death penalty.
