EU commissioner 'very worried' about Swede held by Iran

European Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on Monday she was "very worried" about a Swedish European Union diplomat being held by Iran, saying they were "friends."

'I'm very sad. I'm very worried. And this has been with me for such a long time now," Johansson said.

She was referring to Johan Floderus, who was detained at Tehran airport in April 2022 as he was returning home from a private visit.

Floderus, who on Sunday turned 33 behind bars in Tehran's notorious Evin prison, worked for Johansson for nearly two years when she managed the EU portfolio on migration and home affairs matters, she said.

"He's very bright, very warm and an excellent person to work with. And of course, when you work closely together, you also become friends," Johansson, a Swedish former government minister, said.

Floderus moved in September 2021 from Johansson's service to the European External Action Service, the EU's foreign diplomacy arm, to work in Brussels for the EU delegation to Afghanistan as a program officer.

Iran's authorities announced in July last year they had seized a Swedish man and were holding him under espionage charges. 

Two weeks earlier, an Iranian man was given a life sentence in Sweden for his role in the Iranian regime's 1988 mass executions of thousands of opponents.

Several governments, human rights groups and families of foreign passport holders being held by Iran say Tehran is pursuing a tactic of "hostage diplomacy" in efforts to extract concessions from other countries.

Floderus's family said he was being kept captive in "unacceptable" conditions. The light was permanently on in his cell and he was not receiving adequate food, outside exercise or medical checkups, they said.

On Sunday they said he had made a "desperate plea," in a rare video call last month, for more to be done for his release.

The EU did not confirm that Iran was holding one of its diplomats until the New York Times reported on it early this month. 

Previously, it had said a Swede was being held but did not mention his EU position.

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, subsequently said Sweden's government had the lead on efforts to have Floderus freed, with support from EU institutions. 

Johansson said her own concerns about Floderus were "nothing compared to the situation of Johan or the worries that his closest family are living with every day."