An Iranian convicted of war crimes in Sweden has been freed as part of a prisoner exchange between the two countries.
Hamid Noury, who is serving a life sentence, is returning to Tehran, while Swedish diplomat Saeed Azizi, a dual national, is on his way back to Stockholm.
Nouri was arrested in Sweden in 2019 and convicted of participating in the mass executions of Iranian political prisoners more than three decades ago.
Mr. Florderous was detained in Iran two years ago on espionage charges, while Mr. Aziz was arrested in November and sentenced to five years in prison.
Relations between Sweden and Iran have soured since Nouri’s conviction.
Announcing the swap, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Iran made Florderus and Aziz “pawns in a cynical game of negotiations to obtain the release of Iranian citizen Hamid Nouri from a Swedish prison”.
He added: “He was convicted of serious crimes committed in Iran in the 1980s.”
Kazim Garibabadi, Secretary of Iran’s High Commission for Human Rights, In a post on X (formerly Twitter) said, Mr Nouri was illegally detained in Sweden on Saturday but has since been released and returned to Iran.
In 1988, Nouri was charged with war crimes and murder while working as an assistant to the deputy prosecutor at the Karadigo Hadasht prison, according to Swedish prosecutors.
He is the first person to face prosecution for his role in the execution of thousands of prisoners, which has never been officially acknowledged by Iranian authorities.
In 1988, the left-wing opposition group “People’s Mujahedin” (MEK) supported by Iraq attacked Iran during the Iran-Iraq War.
Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered the execution of all prisoners loyal to or sympathetic to the group.
Human rights groups estimate that between July and September 1988, 2,800 to 5,000 women and men were executed at locations including Gohardasht Prison.
Nouri, 63, was arrested at Stockholm airport after arriving on a flight from Iran. He denied the charges against him but was found guilty of “serious violations of international humanitarian law and murder.”
He was tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows states to prosecute people for serious violations of international law committed elsewhere.
This includes war crimes, genocide, torture and crimes against humanity.
Floderous, 33, faces the death penalty after being arrested in Iran in 2022 on charges of espionage while on vacation.
Aziz, an Iranian-Swedish man in his early 60s, was found guilty of “assembly and conspiracy to endanger national security”.
Oman helped negotiate the prisoner swap and played a key role in the release of another European national last week. French banker Louis Arnaud has been released from detention in Iran after two years.
