Tehran has freed Swedish EU diplomat Johan Floderus and Swede Saeed Azizi in a swap for Iranian Hamid Noury, who was serving a life sentence in Sweden. Meanwhile, the situation of Iranian-Swedish professor Ahmadreza Djalali, a visiting professor at the Free University of Brussels (VUB), remains unchanged. He has been detained in Iran since 2016, and his name was conspicuously absent when the Swedish government announced the prisoner exchange. Amnesty director Wies De Graeve is relieved that the two Swedes are returning home, but condemns the cynical hostage policy. 

Djalali was arrested during a work visit to Iran and sentenced to death in 2017 on espionage charges. Despite international pleas and diplomatic efforts, his situation has remained unchanged since then. 

In a recently surfaced audio message to the Swedish prime minister, Djalali expresses his dismay at not being included in the recent prisoner exchange between Sweden and Iran. "Mr. PM, you decided to leave me behind, at a high risk of execution. You left me here powerless, why not me too, after 3,000 days?" 

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced the release of Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi on X, formerly known as Twitter. In return, Sweden released Iranian Hamid Noury, who was serving a life sentence. The prisoner exchange was facilitated by Oman. "Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi have been released after being unjustly imprisoned in Iran. The Swedish government worked tirelessly for their release," Kristersson stated. "Today they will touch down on Swedish soil and reunite with their families and loved ones." 

Amnesty is appalled 

Wies De Graeve, director of Amnesty International Flanders, commented on Twitter: "We are pleased that Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi can return home. However, this news only reaffirms the Iranian government's cynical hostage policy and its failure to act decisively against it. But for Ahmadreza Djalali's family, this is a devastating blow. I am dismayed that Dr Djalali was not mentioned by the Swedish government and that his family was kept in the dark. Sweden must now clarify what steps they will take to ensure that Ahmadreza too can return home."