Ahmadreza Djalali was arrested in Iran in 2016 and is sentenced to death, accused of espionage. He is imprisoned in the notorious Evin prison. In May, he suffered a heart attack in prison.
A group of experts appointed by OHCHR now writes in a statement that the fact that he is deprived of his liberty is contrary to international law.
"We have reminded Iran of its obligation to treat Djalali in accordance with human rights."
In the statement, it is further stated that without immediate access to adequate medical care, they fear that Djalali has suffered irreparable damage and that his condition may be life-threatening.
"We appeal to the Iranian authorities to review the case and change their minds."
According to the expert group, there is a well-documented pattern of unlawful and arbitrary detention in Iran of persons with dual citizenship and foreign nationals. They are then used as a bargaining tool to put pressure on foreign governments, it writes.
The expert group has also turned to both the Iranian and Swedish governments. Iran has announced that the country disputes the information in the letter.
Ahmadreza Djalali is a doctor and researcher in disaster medicine. He defended his thesis at the Karolinska Institute in 2012.
In 2016, he was arrested in Iran, where he had traveled to participate in a seminar on disaster medicine. He has since been sentenced to death for espionage allegations that he has always denied. He is reported to have been forced to confess under torture.
Djalali became a Swedish citizen in 2018.
But when Sweden carried out a prisoner exchange with Iran in 2024, to bring home Swedish citizens in exchange for the Iranian Hamid Noury, who was sentenced to life in prison in Sweden, he was left behind. According to the Swedish government, Iran did not even want to discuss his case in the negotiations.
During the more than nine years he has been in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, his health has deteriorated significantly. In May 2025, he suffered a heart attack.
