Sweden has expelled an Iranian diplomat found to have undertaken “activities not in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations” in a step that has sparked retaliation.
Iran gave a Swedish diplomat 48 hours to leave the country on Thursday following the expulsion of the Iranian official from Sweden.
The Swedish government accused Iranian officials operating from its embassy in Stockholm of working against opposition groups on Swedish soil by using criminal networks.
The country's Foreign Minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, said the decision was made to "protect our citizens and other Swedish interests". "We conveyed our decision to expel an Iranian diplomat from Sweden due to activities that are inconsistent with the Vienna Convention," she said.
Iran rejected the claims on Thursday after it summoned the Swedish ambassador, Mathias Otterstedt. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the Swedish crackdown on suspicious activity emanating from the embassy had no “justified reason”.
“Without doubt, this action by the Swedish government is the result of the influence of the Zionist regime and an effort to disrupt the normal activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s embassy in Stockholm,” the statement said.
Alireza Yousefi, director of the Foreign Ministry’s Western Europe Department, also accused Sweden of “hosting anti-Iranian terrorist elements and groups” during his conversation with the ambassador.
Iran's state news agency Irna reported that Sweden's decision was due to "alleged security concerns" and "baseless allegations about Iran’s involvement in Sweden’s security affairs".
Ms Malmer Stenergard said the Iranian decision was "highly regrettable" and a "direct response" to Sweden's move on Wednesday. "The Swedish diplomat who has been expelled was conducting normal diplomatic activities in Iran," she said.
Iranian security threats in Europe
Iran has been accused by countries globally of leveraging criminal networks in Europe to work against dissidents overseas, as well as Jewish organisations.
The Swedish crime boss Rawa Majid is believed by Swedish politicians to be hiding in Iran. This year, a Norwegian teenager was accused of having been recruited by Majid's Foxtrot group to murder an enemy of the Iranian regime in England.
There have been numerous attacks on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm that have been attributed to Iran's gangland network. A hand grenade was found on the grounds in February 2024, and there was a shooting a few months later. The Swedish government at the time said the attacks may have been linked to Iran.
The Swedish government did not raise these specific cases, but Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told AFP on Wednesday that Iranian threats had been going on “over a long period of time”.
“We know that Iran, over a long period of time, has conducted activities that threaten security in and against Sweden, targeting both individuals who oppose the Iranian regime and various Jewish and Israeli interests in our country,” Mr Strommer said. “This has, among other things, been done by making use of criminal networks.”
Elisabeth Braw, a defence expert at the Atlantic Council, said the Swedish government and others had been growing more resilient in the face of Iranian threats.
“Where Iran really stands out is its willingness to co-operate with organised crime in harming Sweden in different ways. Russia uses petty criminals to carry out sabotage,” she said. “If you have a diplomat that has been found to maintain links with organised crime, that is a very valid reason for expulsion.”
She said the government had acted in a way that was "clear" but not retaliatory. “The fact that they have detected something and so swiftly expelled the diplomat suggests that the police and other law enforcement agencies are very alert to these activities and monitor them,” she said.
“If they were to retaliate against Iran, it would escalate the situation. But the fact that they expel a diplomat is a clear sign that they know about it and are taking it seriously.”
Several Iranian opposition groups have an official presence in Sweden, including Kurdish parties in exile, as well as a community supportive of the People's Mujahideen of Iran.
It is the latest sign that Iranian diplomacy is on a knife edge in Europe. Two French diplomats, including the country's cultural attache, were expelled from Iran in August following a meeting with two Iranian artists. France responded by expelling two Iranian diplomats from Paris.
In the UK, there have been several attacks against Iranian opposition groups and Jewish organisations that police have linked to Iran.
The Iranian journalist Pouria Zeraati – a critic of the regime – was stabbed outside his home in London two years ago. British counter-terrorism police arrested two people in London on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service in a case linked to Iran last week.
This has led to repeated calls by opposition activists to shut down the Iranian embassy in London. A petition to sever all diplomatic ties with Iran reached 26,575 signatures earlier this year, but the UK government rejected the proposal.
Earlier this year, Nigel Farage, the leader of the far-right Reform UK party, said he would expel the Iranian ambassador if his party came to power.
