عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iranian-Swedish Tensions Rise over Trial of 1988 Mass Executions Jailer

A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]
A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]
TT
TT

Iranian-Swedish Tensions Rise over Trial of 1988 Mass Executions Jailer

A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]
A courtroom sketch of Hamid Nouri sitting with his lawyer during his trial in Stockholm District Court on November 23, 2021 [Anders Humlebo/TT News Agency via Reuters]

Swedish-Iranian national Ahmad Reza Jalali is to be executed on May 21 at the latest, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency said on Wednesday, citing sources.

Jalali, a disaster medicine doctor and researcher, was arrested in 2016 on an academic visit to Iran and sentenced to death on charges of espionage for Israel's Mossad.

The report comes as Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prosecution official arrested by Swedish authorities in 2019, faces a life sentence in Sweden on charges of international war crimes and human rights abuses.

Nouri is accused of playing a leading role in the killing of political prisoners executed on government orders at the Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran, in 1988.

Swedish prosecutors and plaintiffs have requested life imprisonment for Nouri for his role in the prison purges.

In the 89th session of Nouri’s trial, plaintiffs’ lawyers said Nouri played “an active role” in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in Iranian prisons and requested the court hand out the maximum sentence of life imprisonment for him.

On Sunday evening, Tehran summoned Sweden's ambassador over what it considered “baseless and false allegations” made against Nouri.

Iran's Secretary of High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi described Sweden’s trial of Nouri as “unlawful and unfair.”

Gharibabadi said Nouri's trial is a sham that violates the principles of justice and human rights.

Gharibabadi pointed out that “Nouri has been arrested based on false accusations and his detention is regarded as forced disappearance since his family was kept unaware of the arrest.”

There was no comment from the Swedish government on the Iranian statements.

In 2019, Nouri was arrested upon his arrival in Sweden over alleged human rights abuses.

Swedish prosecutors have invoked the principle of “universal jurisdiction” for serious crimes to bring the case against Nouri to trial.

Last week, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a message on Twitter, advised its country’s citizens against non-essential travel to Iran “due to the security situation.”

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Katz: Israel Awaiting US Green Light to 'Return Iran to Stone Age'

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
TT
TT

Katz: Israel Awaiting US Green Light to 'Return Iran to Stone Age'

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israel was "prepared to resume the war against Iran", adding that his country was awaiting a green light from the United States to return Iran to "the Stone Age".

"The IDF is ready both defensively and offensively, and the targets have been marked," Katz said in a video statement.

"We are awaiting a green light from the United States -- first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty... and additionally to return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure," he added.

The opening US-Israel attack of the war on February 28 killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, whose son later succeeded him but has yet to appear in public, creating speculation over his condition and if he is still alive.

"This time, when the attack resumes, it will be different and lethal, adding devastating blows at the most sensitive points -- following the tremendous strikes the Iranian terror regime has already sustained -- that will shake and bring down its foundations," AFP quoted Katz as saying.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which came into effect on April 8, to create space for talks with Tehran.

Plans for renewed negotiations in Pakistan hang in the balance.

The Middle East war has engulfed the region, leaving several thousand people dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and continuing to destabilize the global economy.

World

Prince Harry, on Visit to Kyiv, Tells Putin to 'Stop this War'

Britain's Prince Harry steps off a train as he arrives, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 23, 2026. - Reuters
Britain's Prince Harry steps off a train as he arrives, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 23, 2026. - Reuters
TT
TT

Prince Harry, on Visit to Kyiv, Tells Putin to 'Stop this War'

Britain's Prince Harry steps off a train as he arrives, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 23, 2026. - Reuters
Britain's Prince Harry steps off a train as he arrives, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 23, 2026. - Reuters

Britain's Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday and called on Russia's President Vladimir Putin to end the war - a week after a massive Russian aerial attack on the country - and on US President Donald Trump to show leadership to help resolve the conflict.

By convention, the British royal family do not speak out on political matters, although King Charles and other senior royals have regularly voiced their support for Ukraine. But Harry, on his third visit to the country since the war began, used far more explicit language than any of his relatives have done previously, Reuters reported.

"President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing. There is still a moment—now—to stop this war, to prevent further suffering for Ukrainians and Russians alike, and to choose a different course," Harry said in a speech to a Kyiv security forum.

He called on Washington to do more to bring about an end to the war.

"This is a moment for American leadership, a moment for America to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations," he said.

"Europe has stood up in profound ways," added Harry, a British Army veteran who served in Afghanistan. "The task now is to match endurance with speed, solidarity with scale, and commitment with consistency."

In his speech, which drew huge applause, he praised the Ukrainian people's resolve and the innovative response of its military, including its advanced drone capabilities.

On his two-day visit Harry is also expected to visit the de-mining HALO Trust charity, supported by his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, and spend time with Ukrainian participants of the Invictus Games Foundation he founded, which helps wounded veterans recover through sport, according to Britain's ITV.

"I am here as a soldier who understands service, as a humanitarian who has seen the human cost of conflict, and as a friend of Ukraine who believes the world must not grow used to this war or numb to its consequences," Harry said.

World

Trump Orders Military to ‘Shoot and Kill’ Iranian Small Boats Choking Strait of Hormuz

This screen grab taken from a screen recording of the MarineTraffic website on April 21, 2026, shows data visualisation of maritime traffic in the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman from April 18 to April 20, amid a fragile US-Iran truce. Photo by MARINETRAFFIC.COM / AFP
This screen grab taken from a screen recording of the MarineTraffic website on April 21, 2026, shows data visualisation of maritime traffic in the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman from April 18 to April 20, amid a fragile US-Iran truce. Photo by MARINETRAFFIC.COM / AFP
TT
TT

Trump Orders Military to ‘Shoot and Kill’ Iranian Small Boats Choking Strait of Hormuz

This screen grab taken from a screen recording of the MarineTraffic website on April 21, 2026, shows data visualisation of maritime traffic in the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman from April 18 to April 20, amid a fragile US-Iran truce. Photo by MARINETRAFFIC.COM / AFP
This screen grab taken from a screen recording of the MarineTraffic website on April 21, 2026, shows data visualisation of maritime traffic in the Gulf, Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman from April 18 to April 20, amid a fragile US-Iran truce. Photo by MARINETRAFFIC.COM / AFP

US President Donald Trump has ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats choking the Strait of Hormuz.In a social media post Thursday morning, he said the military is intensifying its mine clearing efforts in the critical waterway.

The move intensified the US-Iran standoff in the Arabian Gulf and raised questions about efforts to end the war.

Meanwhile, the US military said it seized another tanker Thursday associated with smuggling Iranian oil, the Majestic X, in the Indian Ocean, deepening confusion over efforts to end the war.

The seizure comes after a day after Iran attacked three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them. Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

The standoff between the US and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime, with no end in sight.