STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) – Sweden and Iran carried out a prisoner exchange yesterday, officials said, with Sweden freeing a former Iranian official convicted for his role in a mass execution in the 1980s while Iran released two Swedes being held there.
The prisoner swap was mediated by Oman, the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “Omani efforts resulted in the two sides agreeing on a mutual release, as those released were transferred from Tehran and Stockholm,” it said.
Sweden freed former Iranian official Hamid Noury, who had been convicted for his part in a mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. Iran’s official IRNA news agency published footage of Noury arriving at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport where he was welcomed by his family on a red carpet.
Meanwhile, Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi, who had been detained in Iran, were freed and flown back to Sweden where they arrived late on Saturday.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the pair were in good condition given the circumstances and had been reunited with their families.
“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,” Kristersson said in a statement.
“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.”