Iran has executed a Swedish national convicted of espionage for Mossad, prompting condemnation from Sweden.
The man, identified as Kourosh Keyvani, was executed on Wednesday morning after his death sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court, according to reports by Iran International.
Iranian authorities accused Keyvani of passing images and information of sensitive locations to Israeli intelligence officers. He was arrested in Savojbolagh in June last year, during a period when Israel was carrying out strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
While officials in Iran said the case followed legal procedures, no independent evidence supporting the allegations has been made public.
Sweden’s foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, confirmed the execution and criticised the decision. “It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen was executed in Iran earlier today,” she said, describing the death penalty as inhumane and irreversible.
She added that Sweden, along with the European Union, opposes the use of capital punishment in all circumstances. The Iranian ambassador in Stockholm has been summoned, and Sweden raised concerns that the legal process did not meet due process standards.
According to Tasnim News Agency, Keyvani was allegedly recruited online by Israeli intelligence while in Sweden after sharing his details through a group travel advertisement link.