{"id":7125,"date":"2025-05-14T15:37:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T22:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/?p=7125"},"modified":"2025-05-22T03:16:50","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:16:50","slug":"group-of-former-iran-detainees-calls-on-stockholm-to-secure-release-of-swedish-iranian-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/?p=7125","title":{"rendered":"Group of former Iran detainees calls on Stockholm to secure release of Swedish-Iranian doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"el-0-2ZO5DYFHPVBALGZBIDDDXXPSVY\">A group of 21 former detainees freed from Iran appealed on Wednesday to the Swedish government to help secure the release a Swedish-Iranian physician who has been held on death row in Tehran&#8217;s notorious Evin prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-1-P4ECYNPDCVH3DJQHVCOZIDFAK4\">In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the group said that Dr Ahmadreza Djalali has recently suffered a heart attack and his condition has declined after what it called years of &#8220;medical neglect and psychological torment&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Today marks 3306 (!) days and over 9 years since Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali was taken hostage in Iran. He recently suffered a heart attack in Evin Prison and is under imminent risk of execution. Join us in calling for action by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MariaStenergard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MariaStenergard<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SwedishPM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SwedishPM<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BringDjalaliHome?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BringDjalaliHome<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OuFhGA6I5F\">pic.twitter.com\/OuFhGA6I5F<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Freedom for Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali (@Free_Djalali) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Free_Djalali\/status\/1922546168120147997?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 14, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-4-36X3HXHEANCVLCALP4GHMQ5LFE\">&#8220;No more empty statements. Sweden must act with the same urgency and resolve it has shown in securing the freedom of other citizens,&#8221; the group wrote, adding that treating Dr Djalali as a &#8220;second-class&#8221; citizen would be &#8220;a profound moral failure&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-5-GN66GSYRWJANDBYHS2W3FH2BT4\">Dr Djalali is a physician and researcher in disaster medicine. He was detained in 2016 while visiting Iran, charged with espionage and treason, and later sentenced to death. He is a father of two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-6-3PPYFWSQMRG2BC6NP54WVR4YCY\">One of the letter&#8217;s signatories, Siamak Namazi, a businessman with dual US-Iranian citizenship, was held in Evan prison for nearly eight years before he was released in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-8-E55UYPSDQBDYJJA5ULJIPDEXYU\">Mr Namazi&#8217;s release, together with three other Americans, came after he had personally pleaded with then-president Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-9-4CANQAGXFZD3FPRNTBUM27XADM\">\u201cI was in the same ward with him [Dr Djalali] and was very good friends with him. I&#8217;ve spent extensive periods of time with them, talking to him, and it&#8217;s a really sad case,&#8221; he told <em>The National.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-10-6JGUVGWDYRG6NN5MO3NQOSCMCI\">\u201cI was left behind several times but I was not on death row. It&#8217;s horrifying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-11-SY5QRK2LX5FW5EMJVWCMMOEGEE\">Last week, in a lengthy post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi implied that the detention was linked to Tehran\u2019s lack of access to a Swedish-made treatment for epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare skin disease that affects hundreds of Iranian children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-12-CFM7HOHPEVEXRFV3WWYQ2CVPSU\">Mr Araghchi said access to the medication had long been blocked due to &#8220;overcompliance with sanctions&#8221; on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-13-2JUN2FLEYZEOVG6LLUMN242R3A\">&#8220;Astonishingly, Swedish authorities also decided to grant citizenship to a convicted criminal after his sentencing for serious violations: an Iranian national with ties to Sweden so strong that he barely speaks some word of Swedish,&#8221; Mr Araghchi wrote in a seeming reference to Dr Djalili.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-14-DFIK7MW6MRAP3NDDVBRCBRQNWY\">Mr Namazi said that when he saw Mr Araghchi\u2019s post, he thought: \u201cLet&#8217;s undo two humanitarian wrongs in one fell swoop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-15-4DCE37ABKZATBLUXC3VPNSW3DE\">The group of former detainees say Mr Araghchi&#8217;s comments offer &#8220;a rare opportunity for dual humanitarian action&#8221;, resolving an issue related to the sanctions regime and ending the unjust imprisonment of a Swedish citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-16-4U34CARHWBCSXL75TCHDXS7PXI\">&#8220;Let us be clear: we unequivocally condemn hostage diplomacy and have consistently called for international measures to deter it,&#8221; the group wrote in the letter. &#8220;But governments also have a moral obligation to rescue their innocent citizens from foreign prisons \u2013 even when doing so requires difficult but principled negotiations.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-17-ILVHPW4QYFFHTFKBBD4KCEVGSQ\">The letter comes as US President Donald Trump is touring the Gulf in hopes of securing foreign investments in the US and forging peace agreements in global conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-18-OBB3O3MF2RAR7FCNCEGQWYY7UQ\">In a speech from Riyadh on Tuesday, Mr Trump blamed Iran for instability in the Middle East, and warned that he would inflict &#8220;massive maximum pressure&#8221; if it continues to attack its neighbours and support terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"el-19-5ZF7U4PV6FGPTADKUZA7CEYB34\">His comments came amid talks between Washington and Tehran over a new deal that would put limits on Iran&#8217;s nuclear programme. Iran described the latest round of talks in Oman as &#8220;difficult but useful&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of 21 former detainees freed from Iran appealed on Wednesday to the Swedish government to help secure the release a Swedish-Iranian physician who has been held on death<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,1],"tags":[109],"class_list":["post-7125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rights-watch","category-uncategorized","tag-rights-watch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7127,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7125\/revisions\/7127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranreport.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}