Sweden Calls For Immediate Release Of EU Diplomat Jailed In Iran
Sweden has demanded the immediate release from jail in Iran of an EU diplomat who has been accused of spying.
Sweden has demanded the immediate release from jail in Iran of an EU diplomat who has been accused of spying.
Johan Floderus, 33, is being held in Tehran’s Evin prison ahead of a trial on charges of spying for Israel and "corruption on earth," a crime punishable by death.
Speaking on Monday, Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson said the charges against Floderus are “completely without factual basis”.
He told a press conference in Stockholm: “We demand his immediate release.
We have very intensive work we are showing Iran on this issue. But I will not be going into anything of the contents of that work.”
Floderus was arrested while on holiday in Iran last year. His family insists that the detention lacks justifiable cause or due process.
The situation has sparked concerns among human rights organizations and Western governments, who allege that Iran is leveraging arrests on security charges for political motives. Despite the accusations, Tehran claims that such detentions adhere to its criminal code and are devoid of political motivations.
Diplomatic tensions between Sweden and Iran have risen since 2019, stemming from Sweden's arrest and subsequent life sentence of former Iranian official Hamid Nouri. He was convicted of participating in mass executions and torture of political prisoners in the 1980s. In response, Iran protested by recalling its envoy to Sweden.
In May, Iran carried out the execution of a Swedish-Iranian dissident accused of leading an Arab separatist group. The dissident was alleged to be implicated in attacks including one on a 2018 military parade that claimed 25 lives.
In her acceptance speech –sent from the notorious Evin prison, read by her teenage daughter in Oslo– Mohammadi said the Islamic Republic is in a state of “unstable equilibrium” with very little popular support, and will give way to democracy sooner rather than later.
“But the reality is,” she added, “that [foreign] governments and the UN have not had the conviction, the practical coherence, and the proactive approach that seemed necessary and fitting for the kind of support that wills the victory of the people of Iran.”
Iranian dissidents often cite lack of foreign support as a contributing factor to their nonsuccess in getting rid of the Islamic Republic. When it comes to defining the nature and the scope of such support, Western governments are mostly unclear and divided, dissidents argue.
“Western governments should not delay democracy and human rights by adopting confused strategies that are concerned with the continuation of the Islamic Republic's rule,” Mohammadi said.
Her words seem to be directed at Western leaders who consider it to be wiser –or see no alternative but– to deal with those who rule Iran as long as they’re in control.
“The policies and strategies of Western governments have been too superficial to give priority to the will of the Iranian people to achieve their goals,” Mohammadi said.
The Norwegian Nobel committee awarded Mohammadi for her "fight against oppression of women in Iran" and the promotion of human rights for all, in what has been read by some as a decision to aggravate the regime in Tehran.
Narges Mohammadi has spent much of the last decade in prison, serving multiple sentences on charges including spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic. She was symbolically represented on stage in Oslo by a portrait of her and an empty chair.
Mohammadi’s husband, Taghi Rahmani, and their twins –who live in exile in France– attended and received the reward on her behalf.
The event, supposedly a universal source of joy for Iranians, became yet another trigger for heated debate on social media when Rahmani said in an interview on the sidelines of the ceremony that Iranians inside Iran do not want sudden change.
Some read this as a statement in support of Reformists and attacked Rahmani, accusing him of betraying his wife’s suffering and promoting the regime’s agenda.
Others, including some prominent voices on social media whose loved ones have been killed by the regime in recent years, created a double-hashtag (which would translate in English as #DeathToIslamicRepublic and #DeathToReformMovement) with no reference to Rahmani but coinciding with the event.
Taghi Rahmani, a renowned journalist and political activist, had spent more than 13 years in prison before he left Iran in 2012. He’s been a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic for many years but believes any sudden political change in Iran to be a “strategic mistake.”
Unlike his Nobel winning wife, Rahmani used his platform Sunday to decry foreign influence, citing the examples of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and President Donald Trump’s unilateral abandonment of the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran.
Mohammadi, although vague in her language, seemed to be welcoming –or even encouraging– outside help in her Nobel speech.
“It is expected that the global civil society provides more tangible support to the Iranian people's efforts towards democratic and non-violent transition to achieve peace, democracy, and human rights.”
During a speech at Jondi Shapur University in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, Fadavi emphasized that the crucial aspect for the IRGC is that the Iranian people heed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's directive to participate in the elections.
The implications of Fadavi's statement remain unclear. It could suggest that, like many Iranian media outlets and politicians, the Guards recognize the futility of holding elections that lack freedom, fairness, and competitiveness. Alternatively, it might indicate that the IRGC is withholding support for any specific candidate.
Fadavi's subsequent remark, "The IRGC is not going to sacrifice its reputation for any individual," implies a lack of faith in the merits of any candidate and underscores the IRGC's perceived supremacy over Iranian politicians. He asserted that while individuals may sacrifice themselves for the IRGC, the organization will not sacrifice itself for anyone.
Elsewhere in his speech, Fadavi elaborated that "We will not spend anything for anyone who would want to become the President or a member of the parliament, because the issue is not important at all."
During the past week, as the date for the parliamentary (Majles) elections gets closer, many politicians have said that Iranians do not care about the upcoming elections and that the turnout could be even lower than in the 2020 parliamentary vote and the 2021 presidential elections which were the lowest during the past 45 years.
Former reformist lawmaker Mostafa Kavakebian said in his Student Day speech that most university students do not know that this is an election year. Earlier, prominent conservative politician Hamid Reza Taraghi had said the same thing about the population as a whole.
While moderate and pro-reform politicians in Iran have lost all hopes in the competitiveness of the upcoming election, only hardliners and ultraconservatives appear to take it seriously.
Even within the conservative camp, divisions are so deep and widespread that moderate and traditional conservatives such as former Majles Speaker Larijani and Expediency Council member Mohammad Reza Bahonar are not so sure that they could get through biased vetting by the Guardian Council. Of the two politicians, the former is not running, and the latter has openly said that he fears disqualification.
Meanwhile, conservative commentator Mohammad Mohajeri has said that major conservative groups are not so keen to forge strong alliances ahead of the elections as they are almost certain that the ultraconservative Paydari Party will betray them at the last moment as it has done in previous elections. As a result, every major hardline conservative group and party is likely to present its own separate list of candidates.
This would mean an even lower turnout than previous rounds and less credibility for the Majles, as those who eventually win the elections are likely to win smaller number of votes. Without a strong coalition to rally voters behind a group of candidates, few are likely to win more than a few hundred thousand votes even in big cities such as Tehran, Mashhad, and Esfahan.
Mohajeri further said that the main competition in the parliamentary elections will take place between Paydari and the supporters of current Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. He added that regardless of reports about a coalition between Ghalibaf and Paydari, the former is making preparations for a campaign without a coalition, presumably due to Paydari's unpredictability.
Meanwhile, speaking about the possibility of former President Hassan Rouhani uniting low-key moderate and reformist candidates to win a sizeable minority in the next Majles, conservative politician Ali Yousefpour expressed doubts. He argued that Rouhani has lost his credibility among the voters due to his failure to sort out the country's economic problems during his presidency.
