Iran and Sweden exchanged prisoners on Saturday, breaking a logjam that brought relief to their families but also raised concerns about a capitulation to Tehran’s practice of taking foreign nationals hostage on false charges to extract concessions.
Iran released Johan Floderus, 33, an EU diplomat and Swedish citizen, who was arrested in April 2022 in Tehran, as well as Saeed Azizi, a dual citizen who was detained in 2023, Sweden’s prime minister said.
“I am happy to announce that Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi are now on a plane to Sweden, and will be reunited with their families,” the prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on social media.
In exchange, Sweden released Hamid Nouri, an Iranian court official who had been sentenced to life in a Swedish court for torture, war crimes and the mass execution of 5,000 dissidents in 1988 who were sent to the gallows without trial.
Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy minister of justice and secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, announced the release in a post on X, saying he was happy to report Mr. Nouri was “free and returned to Iran within hours.”
The exchange was coordinated with the help of Oman, according to a statement published by Oman’s state news agency. Prisoners on both sides were brought there before traveling to their home countries.
Family members of Mr. Floderus said the young diplomat was on his way to Europe from Oman Saturday afternoon.
The news was welcomed by the Swede’s family, as well as senior officials following the case.
“Rejoice at the news that our Swedish colleague Johan Floderus and his friend Saeed Azizi have been released from unjust Iranian detention,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The European Union and Sweden hid the arrest of Mr. Floderus in April 2022 in Tehran until The New York Times reported the news of his arrest in 2023, more than 500 days later.
But the swap, especially the release by the Swedish Mr. Nouri, also provoked anger and concern to reward Iran for the systematic arrest of foreign citizens on fabricated allegations, usually of espionage or other political crimes, in order to extract concessions from Western countries.
Beyond Iran, Mr. Nouri’s case was hailed as an important legal case of trans-border justice where war criminals can be arrested and sentenced outside their own borders based on charges of crimes against humanity. Human rights lawyers say the case paves the way for the indictment of officials from places like Syria, Sudan and Russia accused of war crimes.
Mr. Nouri was a judicial official at Gohardasht Prison near Tehran, where 5,000 people were executed in the purge of 1988. He prepared a list of names for the so-called death committee of three officials, including the presidential candidate, Ebrahim Raisi. He then escorted the blindfolded prisoners from their cells to the committee room, then to the gallows after their sentence.
On Saturday, family members of the victim and dozens of others from around the world who remain in Iranian custody were outraged by the exchange, with many taking to social media to express their frustration. Some of those still in prison, such as Ahmadreza Djalali, a scientist who was sentenced to death on charges of spying and helping Israel kill a nuclear scientist, are Swedish citizens. Mr. Djalali has denied the allegations against him.
“This is not a big surprise,” said Mariam Claren, daughter of Nahid Taghavia, a German-Iranian dual citizen who has been a prisoner in Tehran for the past four years. “Hamid Nouri was responsible for the mass murder of political prisoners in the ’80s. He was convicted in an independent and fair court in Sweden.
Richard Ratcliffe, whose wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker, spent six years in prison in Iran on false political charges, underlined the complexity of the swap.
“I am very happy for Johan and his family, and Saeed as well,” he said. “He didn’t deserve this. But I’m confused for Ahmadreza and all the others left behind. Nothing about hostage diplomacy is fair.
Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian humanitarian worker who was in prison in Tehran for some time with Mr. Floderus before being released last year in another prisoner exchange, said it was a somber moment he knew all too well.
“When the hostages are released, there is always a mixture of joy and pain,” he said. “When some are released, it means that others are not. We know that the families who are still waiting for their loved ones are going through a very bitter time.
A prisoner exchange will also not help the thousands of Iranians who are unjustly and often brutally detained by the government.
For Iran, asking Mr. Nouri to return from Sweden is a big coup. He was drawn to Sweden in 2019 by his former son-in-law in coordination with international legal experts and the families of the victims. He was arrested when he landed in Stockholm under the rarely used doctrine of universal jurisdiction, which authorizes authorities in any country to arrest and try anyone suspected of violating international law who travels to its territory.
He was found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison by a Swedish court in 2022, and appealed the sentence when he was released.
Vivian Nereim contributed reports from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Farnaz Fassihi from New York.
