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."



Iranian Media Denies ‘Rumors’ Israel Struck Home of Supreme Leader

 In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 1989 death of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini at his shrine just outside Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 1989 death of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini at his shrine just outside Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
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Iranian Media Denies ‘Rumors’ Israel Struck Home of Supreme Leader

 In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 1989 death of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini at his shrine just outside Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 1989 death of the late revolutionary founder Khomeini at his shrine just outside Tehran, Iran, June 4, 2025. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

An Iranian semiofficial news agency has denied “rumors” that an Israeli airstrike targeted the home of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

It is the first time media in Iran has explicitly acknowledged the country’s paramount leader was a target.

The report came from the Fars news agency, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Fars described the rumors as showing “the US and the Zionist regime’s anger and confusion in the face of the supreme leader’s firm statements made today.”

Khamenei earlier Wednesday warned that the United States that strikes targeting Iran will “result in irreparable damage for them” and that his country would not heed to US President Donald Trump’s call for surrender.