Sweden’s foreign minister on Wednesday said that Iran had executed a Swedish citizen, after Iranian authorities announced the first execution of a man convicted of spying since the start of its war against Israel and the United States.“It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen was executed in Iran earlier today,” Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement.
Since the man’s arrest during in June 2025, Sweden had “repeatedly raised the case at various levels with Iranian representatives”, she added.
“In these contacts, we have emphasised Sweden’s expectation that our citizen will receive a fair trial and not be sentenced to death,” Stenergard said.
“It is obvious to us that the legal process which led to the execution of the Swedish citizen was not conducted in accordance with the rule of law,” she added.
A video grab taken from social media on Tuesday shows a vehicle from Iran’s special police unit ablaze in Tehran’s Enqelab Square. Photo: UGC/AFP
She did not identify the citizen who was executed.