TEHRAN- Senior diplomats from Germany and Sweden were summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday over court procedures against Iranian nationals in the European countries.

In response to the Swedish court's upholding of the life sentence against Hamid Nouri, the Director General of Western Europe summoned the Swedish Embassy's chargé d'affaires to convey Iran's strong protest. 

The Director General of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Western Europe Department delivered Iran’s strong demarche, saying the court has based its ruling on unfounded allegations provided by notorious terrorists. 

"It is unfortunate that the false claims of individuals and groups that have committed the most heinous terrorist and anti-human acts against the people of Iran, Iraq, and Europe for decades have been used in the courtroom. Furthermore, no regulations and standards were followed to respect the basic rights [of the detainee],” Iranian media quoted the diplomat as saying.

The German ambassador to Tehran Hans-Udo Muzel was also summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following news that A German court leveled accusations against Iran, which prompted the German federal foreign office to summon the Iran Chargé d'affaires.

Advisor calls life sentence for Hamid Nouri ‘unfair’ 

A senior Iranian official said on Wednesday that the life sentence upheld by the Swedish Court of Appeal for Hamid Nouri was “totally unfair.”

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting, the vice president for legal affairs, Mohammad Dehghan, emphasized that Sweden had violated all human rights standards.

Expressing his regret for the Swedish judicial system, he said, “Sweden violated all human rights and international law standards in the case of Hamid Nouri.” 

The Stockholm Court of Appeals upheld a controversial life sentence for an Iranian citizen, who was arrested in 2019 under unfounded allegations. 

The court announced that it has “affirmed the judgment in significant parts” accusing 62-year-old Hamid Nouri of “grave breaches of international humanitarian law and murder.” 

Nouri who has reportedly been kept in solitary confinement by the Swedish government for the majority of the past 50 months, was given a life sentence in July of 2022. 

He was accused of “war crimes and crimes against humanity” based on allegations put forth by the Mojehiden-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), a terrorist group based in Europe that’s killed an estimated number of 18,000 Iranian civilians in the past decades. 

Nouri is a retired employee of the Iranian judiciary. His family has spoken out about his illegal arrest, saying he has been humiliated and beaten several times throughout his detention, while being denied access to medical service despite his deteriorating health. 

Iran’s Foreign Ministry previously condemned Nouri’s detention, asking for the immediate release of the Iranian citizen.

Dehghan said about the annulment of the decision of the government regarding the import of cars by national players and football technical staff, "This decision is completely legal, but at the same time, we respect the decision of the Administrative Court of Justice. Also, we and the Ministry of Sports were not invited to defend the government's decision in this meeting."

The legal deputy of the president added, "In order not to cause problems for the athletes and those who have rights, we will immediately prepare a new text and approve it in the government."