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Swedish Man Detained in Iran as Relations Deteriorate

Members of the Iranian special forces. Reuters
Members of the Iranian special forces. Reuters
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Swedish Man Detained in Iran as Relations Deteriorate

Members of the Iranian special forces. Reuters
Members of the Iranian special forces. Reuters

A Swedish man has been detained in Iran, the Swedish foreign ministry said on Friday, just days after it advised against unnecessary travel to Iran, citing a deteriorating security situation.

Relations between Sweden and Iran are tense after Sweden detained and put on trial a former Iranian official on charges of war crimes for the mass execution and torture of political prisoners at an Iranian prison in the 1980s.

The trial, condemned by Iran, ended on Wednesday and the verdict is due in July.

"We are aware that a Swedish citizen, a man in his 30s, has recently been detained in Iran. The embassy in Tehran is seeking information on the case and is in contact with local authorities," the Swedish Foreign ministry said in an e-mailed statement.

According to Reuters, it offered no further details.

The Swedish daily Aftonbladet, citing unnamed sources, said the man is a tourist traveling with other Swedes and was detained after a few days of vacation.

Sweden amended its travel advice for Iran on April 28 as the trial of Hamid Noury, 61, was drawing to a close. Noury is accused of having played a leading role in the executions of political prisoners on government orders at the Gohardasht prison in Karaj, Iran, in 1988. He has denied the charges.

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A Massive Explosion and Fire Strikes Iranian Port and Injures Hundreds

This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
TT
20
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A Massive Explosion and Fire Strikes Iranian Port and Injures Hundreds

This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)
This image grab taken from footage released by the state television of IRIBNEWS on April 26, 2025 shows people walking away as smoke billows following an explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port dock southwest of Bandar Abbas in the Iranian province of Hormozgan. (Photo by IRIBNEWS / AFP)

The number of injured from an explosion Saturday at a port in southern Iran jumped to 281, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of Iran’s National Emergency Organization, as giving the figure.
The blast happened at the Rajaei port just outside of Bandar Abbas, a major facility for container shipments for Iran that handles some 80 million tons (72.5 million metric tons) of goods a year.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers (miles) away from the epicenter of the explosion, The Associated Press said.
Authorities have offered no cause for the explosion yet. Industrial accidents happen in Iran, particularly at its aging oil facilities that struggle for access to parts under international sanctions. But Iranian state TV specifically ruled out any energy infrastructure as causing or being damaged in the blast.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official, told Iranian state TV that first responders were trying to reach the area while others were attempting to evacuate the site.
Hasanzadeh said the blast came from containers at Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating. State TV also reported there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though there were no immediate other details offered.
Rajaei port is some 1,050 kilometers (652 miles) southeast of Iran's capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil traded passes.
The blast happened as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.