Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali has gone on a hunger strike to protest against being left out of a prisoner exchange deal between Tehran and Stockholm, his wife Vida Mehrannia told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.
Earlier this month, Sweden released former Iranian prison official Hamid Nouri in exchange for Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi.
Djalali, who was detained in 2016 and subsequently sentenced to death for allegedly spying for Israel, was not part of the exchange. He has denied all charges.
Mehrannia said the Swedish government has not given Djalali’s family “convincing” explanations about why he was not included in the deal.
She added that Djalali’s hunger strike, which started on June 26, was in protest against Stockholm “leaving him behind” and “not taking any responsibility.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on June 25 that his government’s only options were to either bring Floderus and Azizi back or “drop everything” and forget the deal.
SEE ALSO: Activists Condemn Iran-Sweden Prisoner Swap Of Convicted War Criminal NouriMehrannia said she will meet a government representative in the first week of July to discuss her husband’s case.
She said Djalali, who is the longest imprisoned dual citizen held in Iran, was sentenced to death so that Tehan could use him to “pressure” European nations to release Iranian prisoners.
The prisoner swap deal has been widely condemned by rights groups and activists, because Nouri was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.
Western governments and rights groups have long accused Iran of detaining dual citizens to use them as bargaining chips against the West.
At least eight other European citizens are currently held in Iran, including Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen of Iranian descent sentenced to death.
The Islamic republic is also holding German-Iranian Nahid Taqavi, who was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison
Other Europeans held in Iran include French citizens Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, as well as a man identified only by his first name Olivier. Kohler and Paris are accused of spying, but no details have been released about Olivier's case.
An unnamed Austrian national was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in jail in Iran last year for spying, according to Vienna.
Swedish nationals Simon Kasper Brown and Stephen Kevin Gilbert, who were detained in 2021 and later convicted of drug trafficking, are serving eight and five years in prison, respectively.