A woman walks past a mural depicting verses from the Quran, the holy book of Islam, in Tehran, on May 5, 2025. (Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP.)
Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, sentenced to death and detained for nine years in Iran, has been denied appropriate care after suffering a heart attack last week, his Swedish lawyer told AFP on Monday.
Djalali, sentenced to death in 2017 for espionage and who acquired Swedish nationality during his incarceration, had the heart attack at Tehran's Evin prison, his wife stated on Friday.
"The nature of this type of illness requires that individuals undergo various types of hospital examinations, including an electrocardiogram ... But this treatment has not been provided so far," said Nima Rostami, Djalali's lawyer in Sweden.
Djalali consulted a doctor on Friday, then a specialist on Saturday, both of whom confirmed the heart attack, he said.
"He received basic care," the lawyer added, but "was denied" the necessary care.
According to Rostami, the prison had promised that equipment would be brought to the prison so that tests could be conducted on site, but this has yet to happen.
"The specialized treatment has not yet been administered even though his pulse is still weak," he said, adding that Jalali's overall health condition was poor.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on Friday that she had "urgently spoken ... with the Iranian Foreign Minister."
"During this conversation, I demanded that Djalali immediately receive the specialized care he needs," she said on X, reiterating her call for Djalali's release.
In a message posted on X on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi assured that Djalali had "access to medical care" and accused Sweden of undermining ties between the two countries.
"Instead of sinking further into a deadlock, I call on my Swedish counterpart Stenergard to reconsider the choices that brought us to where we are today," he said.
He criticized Sweden's decision to grant citizenship "to a criminal AFTER his conviction." Iran does not recognize dual nationality.
In June 2024, Tehran released two Swedes detained in Iran in exchange for Hamid Noury, a former Iranian prison administration official serving a life sentence in Sweden.