Swedish-Iranian academic faces imminent execution in Iran, Amnesty warns

Amnesty International has issued a warning that Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Jalali, who has been detained in Iran for more than eight years, is at imminent risk of execution following the exhaustion of all legal options to reverse his death sentence.

“Iranian authorities must quash Ahmadreza Jalali’s conviction and death sentence, imposed following grossly unfair trial proceedings, and release him immediately,” the rights group stated on Monday.

“He has heart arrhythmia, anemia, and high blood pressure, for which he has been denied timely and adequate access to health care,” Amnesty's statement further added.

A source close to Jalali's inside the country told Iran International that his execution is imminent.

Jalali's health has worsened after he undertook a hunger strike from June 26 to July 4 to protest his ongoing arbitrary detention, despite a prisoner swap between Iran and Sweden on June 15.

As part of the Stockholm-Tehran accord in June, two Swedish nationals, Johan Floderus, and Saeed Azizi, were exchanged for Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prison official. Nouri was serving a life sentence in Sweden for his involvement in the mass executions of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.

Swedish authorities asserted that Iran declined to negotiate Jalali’s release within the framework of this agreement.

The release of Nouri to Iran had already sparked backlash among Iranians. Criticism of Sweden's deal with Iran intensified further upon learning that Jalali was left behind.

Political activists condemned the Swedish government's actions as "dangerous". They warned of their "far-reaching consequences," emphasizing that they reinforce Iran's policy of diplomatic hostage-taking, which has led to the imprisonment of numerous dual nationals in Iran.

Last year, the release of five American-Iranians in exchange for the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds faced similar criticism from rights organizations, who argued that it supported Iran's blatant hostage-taking agenda.

Jalali has criticized the Swedish government's decision to exclude him from the deal as "discriminatory." He has urged the Swedish prime minister to publicly meet with his son and family to clarify why he was left behind and to outline the measures that would be taken on their behalf in the event of his execution.

Jalali, a disaster medicine specialist, was arrested in Tehran in April 2016 and sentenced to death in October 2017 for “corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel-arz) following what has been described as a grossly unfair and arbitrary trial before an Islamic Revolutionary Court.

The court's verdict primarily relied on “confessions” that Jalali asserted were obtained under torture and other ill-treatment during his prolonged solitary confinement, where he was also denied access to legal counsel.