Swedish Wife on Doctor Ahmadreza Djalali: "He is Alive"

The Swedish-Iranian researcher Ahmadreza Djalali has been relocated following bombings at the infamous Evin Prison in Tehran. The Foreign Minister now states that the government does not know where he has been taken. "Sweden's embassy in Tehran is in contact with local authorities," she writes on X.

Bombings in Iran continue. On Monday, the Fordo nuclear facility and six Iranian airports were bombed.

Iranian state media also reports that the entrance to Evin Prison in Tehran has been damaged.

Evin Prison holds many with Western citizenship, used in Iran's negotiations with the West. It was here that Johan Floderus was held captive.

The Swedish-Iranian doctor and researcher Ahmadreza Djalali remains imprisoned there.

"He is alive," says his wife Vida Mehrannia.

She has not spoken to him herself but has received information through his family in Iran that her husband was not injured in the attack, which mainly caused material damage to the entrance and windows of the building.

"But it is a terrible situation regardless," she says.

Imprisoned Since 2016

Over the weekend, while people in Sweden gathered for Midsummer celebrations, two individuals from Ahmadreza Djalali's ward were taken for execution, she says.

According to Djalali's lawyer, Nima Rostami, he is also to be moved, writes Dagens Nyheter.

"Since he is the only prisoner who received this information, it suggests that something is about to happen in his case, and that it is unrelated to today's attack. Considering that they are now executing individuals convicted of espionage, it could be a sign that they will do the same," Nima Rostami tells the newspaper.

But the destination is unclear.

"The message is just that he should pack his belongings," Rostami tells Dagens Nyheter.

Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard also writes that the government has no further information.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received information that the Swedish citizen sentenced to death in Iran, Ahmadreza Djalali, has been moved from his cell to an unknown location for an unknown reason," she writes in a comment on X.

She writes that the Swedish embassy is in contact with local authorities to understand what has happened.

"In light of this information, the government emphasizes the serious consequences it would have on relations with Iran if the sentence were to be carried out," she writes further, reiterating that Sweden demands Djalali's release.

Has Not Called His Wife

Like Djalali, they were accused of having ties with Israel.

Since the war between Israel and Iran began, the Swedish government has not contacted Vida Mehrannia.

"No, unfortunately, they have not called me," she says.

Djalali has been imprisoned since 2016. He was arrested while in Iran to participate in a seminar on disaster medicine. He has conducted research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and became a Swedish citizen in 2018. When Sweden and Iran conducted the controversial prisoner exchange that brought back Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi, he was left behind.

His health has deteriorated significantly during this time, and in May he suffered a heart attack.