Iran summons Swedish envoy over ruling against ex judiciary official

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned Sweden's charge d'affaires in Tehran to strongly protest the life sentence given to a former Iranian judiciary official, reported Xinhua.

The Swedish envoy was summoned by Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, director general for Western Europe at the ministry, after a Swedish court on Tuesday upheld the life sentence against Hamid Nouri, who was arrested in 2019 in Sweden for alleged human rights violations, which was rejected as "baseless" by the Iranian side, according to a statement by the ministry.

Ahmadabadi vehemently condemned the move against Nouri, saying the ruling allowed legal mechanisms to be abused for "poisonous and destructive circles' political objectives."

The Iranian official said his country was determined to follow up on the issue until "Nouri gets freed from the grip of injustice," adding that the country reserved the right to take proportionate steps.

For his part, the Swedish charge d'affaires gave the assurance to convey Iran's protest to Stockholm as soon as possible.

Nouri was tried based on accusations by members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), which Iran designates as a "terrorist group."

The MKO accused Nouri of being involved in the execution and torture of its members in 1988.