By Pishtaz | 2023-09-06

A Swedish citizen who works for the European Union (EU)'s diplomatic corps has been imprisoned in Iran for over 500 days, in yet another example of Iran's ever-expanding hostage diplomacy.

The EU on Tuesday (September 5) confirmed that Johan Floderus, a 33-year-old EU official based in Brussels, had been arrested on espionage charges at a Tehran airport in April 2022, Euronews reported.

The confirmation came after the New York Times revealed Floderus' identity -- which had been kept secret by Iran, the EU and Sweden -- in a Monday report.

The Times said its reporters spoke to six people with firsthand knowledge of the case, all of whom requested anonymity. They all denied that Floderus had been involved in espionage.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry initially confirmed to the Times that a Swedish citizen in his 30s had been "arbitrarily deprived of his freedom" and urged Iranian authorities to release him.

The ministry said it would not comment on the details of the case, citing a need for secrecy, according to multiple media reports.

"The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in Tehran are working on the case intensively," the ministry's press department said in an email to the Times.

'Deeply worried and heartbroken'

Floderus is reportedly being held in Iran's notorious Evin prison in Tehran.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry issued a statement last year about Floderus' arrest without naming him.

"A Swedish citizen accused of espionage was being closely watched by the ministry's counter-espionage unit in the trips he made to Iran," it said.

"All of his moves, relationships, and trips to multiple Iranian cities (which were not made for tourism purposes) were being monitored," the statement said.

Floderus had visited Iran before without incident and was visiting Iran on holiday with his Swedish friends when he was detained, the Times reported, citing people familiar with the case.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on Tuesday that Floderus worked for the European External Action Service (EEAS).

"I want to stress that I personally, all my team, at all levels, European institutions in close coordination with the Swedish authorities -- which have the first responsibility of consular protection -- and with his family, have been pushing the Iranian authorities to release him," Borrell said.

"Every time we had diplomatic meetings, at all levels, we have put the issue on the table. Relentlessly, we have been working for the freedom of Mr. Floderus and we will continue doing that."

Meanwhile, Floderus' family said in a statement published by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that they were "deeply worried and heartbroken."

History of hostage-taking

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and starting with American diplomats who were held hostage in Tehran for 444 days, the Iranian regime has arrested a number of foreign nationals and dual citizens during trips to Iran on espionage charges.

It has tried using them as leverage in negotiations with Western countries, as a means to intimidate dissenters, and as pawns to extract concessions -- such as release of blocked funds or a prisoner exchange -- from their countries of residence.

The Iranian regime, for example, detained Swedish-Iranian citizen Ahmad-Reza Djalali, an emergency medicine specialist, in April 2016 while on travel from Sweden.

In October 2017, Djalali was convicted of "spreading corruption on earth" -- a Qur'anic reference used since the 1979 Islamic Revolution to justify the death penalty for political prisoners -- and sentenced to death.

The regime has a history of charging political activists with "attempting to overthrow the regime" after slapping on a "corruption on earth" charge.

Djalali remains imprisoned, and no date has been announced for what court officials have referred to as his "imminent execution".

Iranian authorities in February 2018 also arrested Canadian-Iranian Kavous Seyed-Emami, a professor and prominent environmentalist, for allegedly spying in Iran. He died in custody under suspicious circumstances two days after his arrest. The government said he had committed suicide.

Regime officials had accused Seyed-Emami and seven other environmentalist colleagues of gathering classified information about Iran's strategic areas under the guise of environmental and research projects.

In October 2018, Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American businessman and conservationist, and three of his colleagues were also charged with "corruption on earth."

The charge was later changed to co-operating with a hostile country.