Iranian convicted of war crimes freed in Sweden prisoner swap

An Iranian man convicted of war crimes in Sweden has been freed in a prisoner swap with Iran. Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian academic, has been released in Iran and flown to Sweden. Djalali was convicted in 2017 of espionage for Israel and sentenced to death in Iran. He was pardoned by the Iranian Supreme Leader and his sentence was commuted to 10 years in prison. Djalali had been arrested in 2016 while visiting Iran. Sweden had been calling for his release, describing him as a hostage. The Iranian man freed in the exchange is suspected of being involved in the murder of a Kurdish opposition leader in Sweden in 2022. This exchange comes after months of negotiations between Sweden and Iran. Sweden is planning to expel the Iranian man from the country. The exchange was welcomed by Djalali's family, who had been campaigning for his release for years. They described his release as a "Christmas miracle".

Summary

"The prisoner swap involved Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian academic convicted of espionage in Iran, and an Iranian man suspected of being involved in the murder of a Kurdish opposition leader in Sweden. Djalali was released from prison in Iran and flown to Sweden, while the Iranian man was freed in Sweden and is expected to be expelled from the country."