TEHRAN – Tehran has reacted to Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde’s tweet about Ahmadreza Jalali’s legal case, rejecting any interference in issuing or enforcing judicial verdicts by the Iranian Judiciary as unacceptable.

“As Dr. Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, explained to Ms. Linde in the conversation, the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran is independent, and any interference in the issuing or enforcement of judicial verdicts is rejected and unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement on Tuesday evening, according to the Foreign Ministry website.

Earlier on Tuesday, Zarif and Linde had a phone conversation, during which the two sides conferred on the latest international developments, regional issues, JCPOA-related issues, and bilateral and consular relations between Tehran and Stockholm.

During the phone call, the Iranian foreign minister pointed to the United States’ unlawful and unfair sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and criticized European countries for their failure to fulfill their commitments under the JCPOA.  

He also advised the top Swedish diplomat not to sacrifice their independence and sovereignty for the bullying and cruel policies of the United States.

After the conversation, Linde tweeted that she had spoken with Zarif “in light of reports that Iran may have planned to enforce a death penalty” against Jalali, a dual Iranian-Swedish national.

“Sweden condemns the death penalty and works to ensure that the verdict against Jalali is not enforced,” she wrote.

Khatibzadeh expressed regret that Swedish officials have deficient and incorrect information about the situation of Jalali, who is in jail for security-related crimes.

Jalali, a medical doctor and lecturer at the Karolinska Institute in the Swedish capital, was arrested in Iran in 2016 and later convicted of espionage.

He was charged with providing information to Israel to help its agents assassinate Iranian nuclear scientists. Iran’s Supreme Court in 2017 upheld the death sentence against Jalali.

MH/PA