Iran says dual national held on spy charges since June war with Israel is Swedish

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s judiciary said on Tuesday that a dual national arrested during June’s 12-day war with Israel, and who has since been put on trial for espionage, holds Swedish citizenship.

Tehran has given few details on the case, one of multiple arrests that took place during and after the war, in which Israel and then the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, and Iran barraged Israel with missiles.

Several of those convicted of working for the Mossad spy agency were subsequently executed.

“Recently, a case was investigated in Alborz Province regarding a dual-citizen spy. This person received Swedish citizenship in 2020 and has resided there since,” said judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online news agency.

“This person was identified and arrested on charges of spying for the Zionist regime during the 12-Day War,” he added.

Jahangir claimed that the defendant, whom he did not name, was recruited by Israel in 2023 and “was able to meet in the capitals of six European countries with the [Israeli] agents and receive the necessary training.”

He claimed that the defendant had made several trips to Israel, including two weeks before entering Iran. He said the defendant entered Iran a month before the war and had settled in a villa near Karaj, close to Tehran.

“He was carrying electronic spy equipment that was identified by the officers” and later confessed to spying, the spokesperson claimed.

He stated that the verdict in the case would be issued soon.

In October, Iran passed a law that toughened penalties for those convicted of spying on behalf of Israel and the US.

The text of the law stipulates that “any intelligence or espionage activity” for Israel, the US or other governments and groups deemed hostile to Iran “shall be punishable by confiscation of all assets… and by the death penalty.”

Since the war, Iran has vowed swift trials for those suspected of collaborating with Israel, announcing multiple arrests and the execution of at least nine people convicted on such charges.

Iran usually carries out executions inside prisons, but has also performed public executions. The Islamic Republic, which executes most convicts by hanging, is the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.

During the June war, Iranian authorities announced several arrests of Europeans, including Lennart Monterlos, a 19-year-old French-German cyclist, who was later released.

Israel said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. Israel said Iran had recently taken steps toward weaponization.

Iran retaliated to Israel’s strikes by launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at Israel.

The attacks killed 32 people and wounded over 3,000 in Israel, according to health officials and hospitals.

In all, there were 36 missile impacts and one drone strike in populated areas, causing damage to 2,305 homes in 240 buildings, along with two universities and a hospital, and leaving over 13,000 Israelis displaced.

Several Europeans are detained in Iran, including French couple Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been held since May 2022. In June 2024, Iran freed two Swedes in a prisoner swap for former Iranian official Hamid Noury, who was serving a life sentence in Sweden.