12-05-2025
Swede on death row in Iran denied proper care after heart attack: Lawyer
Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Jalali, who is on death row in Iran, has been denied proper care after suffering a heart attack last week, his Swedish lawyer said on Monday.
Jalali, an Iranian who was sentenced to death in 2017 on espionage charges and was granted Swedish nationality while in jail, suffered a heart attack in Tehran's Evin prison, his wife said on Friday.
Nima Rostami, Jalali's lawyer in Sweden, told AFP his client had still not received appropriate care.
'The nature of this type of disease requires that people should undergo various types of tests in hospital, including an EKG (electrocardiogram)... But such treatment has so far not been provided,' Rostami said.
He said Jalali had seen a doctor on Friday and then a specialist on Saturday, who had both confirmed the heart attack.
'He has received basic care,' the lawyer said but 'has been denied' relevant care.
According to Rostami, the prison had promised that equipment would be brought to the prison so that tests could be performed on site but that had still not happened.
'The specialized treatment has so far not been administered despite the fact that he still has a low pulse,' he said, adding that Jalali's general health condition was poor.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on Friday that she had 'spoken urgently... with the Iranian foreign minister.'
'During the conversation, I demanded that Ahmadreza Jalali immediately receive the specialized care he needs,' she said in a post on X, repeating a Swedish demand that Jalali be released.
In a post on X on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Jalali had 'access to medical care' and accused Sweden of undermining ties.
'Instead of walking further into a dead end, I call on my Swedish counterpart @MariaStenergard to reconsider the choices that have brought us (to) where we are today,' he said.
He criticised Sweden's decision to grant citizenship 'to a convicted criminal AFTER his sentencing'.
Iran does not recognize dual nationality.
In June 2024, Tehran freed two Swedes held in Iran in exchange for Hamid Noury, a former Iranian prisons official serving a life sentence in Sweden. Jalali was not included in the swap.
