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Sweden and Iran Conduct Prisoner Swap

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Sweden and Iran conducted a prisoner exchange on Saturday, with Hamid Noury, a former Iranian official convicted of war crimes for his role in mass executions in the 1980s, being released from Swedish custody. In return, Iran freed two Swedish nationals: Johan Floderus, an EU diplomat accused of espionage, and Saeed Azizi, who had been arrested in November 2023. The exchange was mediated by Oman, as confirmed by the country's news agency.

    1. Hamid Noury, who has been in illegal detention in Sweden since 2019, is free and will return to the country in a few hours.
    1. They said even God cannot free Hamid Noury, but he did.
    1. I understand how this is received with mixed feelings, not least among Swedes who stem from Iran. This was not an easy deliberation the government has had to make, but sometimes you have to do difficult things and do what is right.
    2. It has been clear all along that the operation would require some difficult decisions. Now we have made those decisions.
    3. As prime minister I have a special responsibility for Swedish citizens' safety. The government has therefore worked intensively on the issue, together with the Swedish security services which have negotiated with Iran.
    4. They are now on a plane home to Sweden, and will soon be reunited with their families.
    5. Iran used them both as pawns in a cynical negotiations game with the purpose of getting the Iranian citizen Hamid Noury released from prison in Sweden. He is convicted of serious crimes committed in Iran in the 1980s.
Sweden and Iran Conduct Prisoner Swap