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Iran Postpones Execution of Iranian-Swedish Academic

The death sentence of Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali has strained tension between Tehran and Stockholm. AFP
The death sentence of Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali has strained tension between Tehran and Stockholm. AFP
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Iran Postpones Execution of Iranian-Swedish Academic

The death sentence of Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali has strained tension between Tehran and Stockholm. AFP
The death sentence of Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali has strained tension between Tehran and Stockholm. AFP

The planned execution of Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was sentenced to death in Iran three years ago for spying, has been postponed, his wife said Thursday.

Vida Mehran Nia told AFP she had been informed by her husband's lawyer that Iranian authorities had decided to delay the execution for "some days".

According to information gathered by rights group Amnesty International, Djalali was scheduled to be moved on Tuesday afternoon to a prison in the Iranian city of Karaj where the execution was to be carried out, but his wife said he had not yet been transferred.

Mehran Nia told AFP she believed the postponement was related to "political issues" in Iran, and even if it was a "good sign" she was unsure what it meant for her husband's chances.

"I don't know honestly, but at least we have some hope," said Mehran Nia, who lives in Sweden.

Djalali, formerly based in Stockholm where he worked at the Karolinska Institute, a medical university, was arrested during a visit to Iran in April 2016.

He was subsequently found guilty of passing information about two Iranian nuclear scientists to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency that led to their assassinations.

While imprisoned he was granted Swedish citizenship in February 2018, only months after his death sentence was confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court.

Djalali has claimed he is being punished for refusing to spy for Iran while working in Europe and his death sentence has been widely condemned by rights groups and by UN rights experts.

The case strained relations between Sweden and Iran after Swedish foreign minister Ann Linde urged Tehran to call off the execution on Twitter last week, writing that she had spoken to her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif about the case.

"Sweden denounces the death penalty and is working so that the sentence against Djalali is not carried out," Linde wrote.

Linde's comments were denounced by Iran the following day, with foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh saying that "all interference in the issuance or carrying out of judicial decisions is rejected as unacceptable."

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Taiwan Says Somalia Bans Entry to Its Citizens amid Somaliland Dispute

A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
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Taiwan Says Somalia Bans Entry to Its Citizens amid Somaliland Dispute

A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)
A soldier lowers the Taiwan national flag during the daily flag ceremony at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Somalia has banned entry to Taiwan passport holders citing compliance with a United Nations resolution, the island's foreign ministry said, blaming Chinese pressure on Mogadishu at a time Taiwan is boosting ties with Somaliland.

Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but has not gained widespread international recognition for its independence. The region has been mostly peaceful while Somalia has endured three decades of civil war.

Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory and likewise diplomatically isolated, and Somaliland set up representative offices in each other's capitals in 2020, angering Mogadishu and Beijing.

In a statement late on Tuesday, Taiwan's foreign ministry said the Somalia Civil Aviation Authority had last week issued a notice that as of Wednesday Taiwanese passports will not be accepted for entry to Somalia.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged a solemn protest against the Somali government's move, instigated by China, to restrict the freedom and security of travel of our nationals, and demands the Somali government immediately revoke the announcement," it said.

Somalia's outgoing Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi told Reuters the measure had been taken because they recognize one China policy and consider Taiwan a part of China.

"We banned from Somalia all illegal work of Taiwan and those with Taiwanese passports," he said.

"It (Taiwan) violated the independence and unity of Somalia by opening illegal offices in a town which is part of Somalia, without permission from Somalia." He was referring to Hargeisa, Somaliland's capital.

Somaliland officials could not be reached for comment.

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry said the decision was a legitimate measure taken by Somalia to safeguard its rights and interests.

"It also shows that Somalia firmly abides by the one China principle ... we firmly oppose the establishment of institutions or any form of official exchange between the Taiwan authorities and Somaliland," ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference on Wednesday.

Notice of the entry ban, sent to airlines, was given so that Somalia complies with a United Nations Resolution passed in 1971 by which the Beijing government took Taipei's place at the global body under the "one China" principle, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Taiwan, along with the US, says the UN resolution makes no mention of Taiwan's status and that China has deliberately misinterpreted it. China says the resolution gives international legal standing to its claims of sovereignty over the democratically governed island.