TEHRAN- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian urged Sweden’s authorities to enhance protection of diplomatic missions and personnel in the wake of an attack on an employee of the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Stockholm.

During a phone conversation on Saturday with Mohammad Ahmadi, the temporary charge d'affaires of the Iranian embassy, he gauged the situations following an attack by a cabal of an anti-Iran elements illegitimately massed outside the mission and assaulted an employee.

The Swedish government was encouraged by the senior Iranian diplomat to fulfill its commitments under the Vienna Convention given the security of diplomatic missions and staffers. 

He also prayed for a speedy recovery for the assaulted embassy staffer.

Ahmadi said that a strong complaint was transferred to the Swedish side in Tehran and Stockholm shortly after the unlawful act outside the embassy, stressing the need for identifying and punishing the perpetrators of the incident.

He said that Swedish officials had expressed regret over the event in meetings and phone conversations, and had underlined Sweden’s commitment to upholding the Vienna Convention’s provisions for the security of the embassy and its employees.

“In this regard, five assailants were arrested in cooperation with the Swedish police. The issue will be followed up until the perpetrators of the attack are convicted.”

Tehran and Stockholm have faced serious issues in recent years due to Quran burning and the ruling against an Iranian citizen Hamid Nouri. 

In November 2019, Nouri was detained while arriving at Stockholm Airport and was subsequently taken into custody.

He has been detained in Sweden’s solitary confinement for three and a half years without authorization.

He was put on trial on baseless accusations made by elements of the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), which has publicly boasted of carrying out terrorist attacks against Iranian officials and citizens who are thought to be government supporters.

Nouri has vehemently denied the terrorist group’s unfounded allegations that he was complicit in the 1988 death and torture of MKO members.

Nouri was given a life sentence by a Swedish court in July of last year. The court, which Iran first denounced as being illegitimate, found Nouri guilty of “war crimes and crimes against humanity” based solely on testimony from MKO terrorists who were living in exile around Europe.

Since his erroneous arrest, the former Iranian judiciary officer has been kept in solitary prison.

Qatari FM vows deal on Tehran access to unblocked assets 

In a phone conversation with Amir Abdollahian on Saturday, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani noted that his nation along with the U.S. are committed to granting access to Tehran for its $6 billion of recently unfrozen funds.

According to the foreign minister of Qatar, executive actions are being taken in compliance with a deal between the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Central Bank of Qatar.

On August 2023, the U.S. and Iran made a deal, mediated by Qatar, to swap detainees and secure the release of around $6 billion in Iranian cash that had been frozen in two South Korean banks since 2018 on the grounds of U.S sanctions.

In September 2023, the funds were successfully moved to six Iranian banks’ accounts in Ahlibank and Dukhan Bank in Qatar.

At the time, U.S. President Joe Biden said purportedly that only “humanitarian” uses could be made of the funds obtained from the sale of Iranian oil to South Korea.

Yet, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi singled readiness of Tehran to have the complete grip on its unfrozen assets, adding that Iran knows well how to spend its own funds on whatever it sees as significant.

The Qatari foreign minister, who also serves as his country’s prime minister, hailed the growing ties between Tehran and Doha.