Tehran Court Upholds Five-Year Sentence For Iranian-Swedish Citizen

The Tehran Province Court of Appeals has upheld the five-year sentence for Saeed Azizi, an Iranian-Swedish dual-national, one of several held as part of Tehran's hostage diplomacy policy.

Azizi, 60, was arrested by Iranian security forces on November 12 at his private residence shortly after returning from Sweden to Iran. His lawyer had previously highlighted Azizi's deteriorating health condition, citing prostate cancer and injuries sustained from a fall in prison.

The case of Azizi adds to a series of detentions involving dual-national citizens in Iran. Notably, 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, have also faced accusations of espionage.

The Swedish government has expressed deep concern over the detention of its citizens, demanding their immediate release. In mid-January, Sweden called for Azizi's release, stating that Iran had detained him "without any specific reason."

Critics accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran of leveraging the detention and trial of Western or dual-national citizens as a means to advance its political agendas and to provoke tensions with Western governments. Last year, the United States unfroze $6 billion of Iran's blocked funds in exchange for the release of five hostages.

It is believed that Swedes and dual nationals have come under fire since 2022 as a result of the life-sentence handed to former Iranian jailor, Hamid Nouri, imprisoned in Sweden for his role in the purge of dissidents in 1988. Nouri, 62, received the life sentence from a Swedish district court in July 2022 for "grave breaches of international humanitarian law and murder."

After months of legal battles, an appeals court upheld the verdict in December 2023, leading Nouri to seek recourse with the Supreme Court, but the appeal was rejected.