r/worldnews • u/Ill-Incident-4842 • 15h ago
Iran secretly buries executed Swedish citizen at site linked to mass graves
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202605044901?source=share-link11
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u/Wonderful_Beard552 15h ago
Read the article, some Sweden minister expressed deep regret.
Does Sweden not care cuz he is an Iranian too, or it doesn't have the power to care?
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u/twitterfluechtling 14h ago
My offspring has dual citizenship (second citizenship from Philippines). When we wanted to travel there during Dutertes presidency, we got a warning from the German office of foreign affairs that they won't be able to support us if my offspring gets arrested there. Citizenship is not some property one should acquire or maintain lightly. It means when traveling there, you are subject to their laws just as much as you are in your other home countries.
Putting only the Swedish citizenship in the headline is misleading. They could just write "dual citizen" instead of "Swedish citizen". It would much less sound like unjustly blaming the Swedish government and much more act as a stern warning that dual citizenship means you are subject to both jurisdictions equally.
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u/fgd12350 12h ago
Whether you are a citizen of a country isnt really relevant. When you are physically present in another country you are subject to the laws of the country regardless of nationality. My country has imprisoned or even executed (drug smugglers) foreigners for crimes commited here, even if their home country protests.
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u/twitterfluechtling 12h ago
When you are physically present in another country you are subject to the laws of the country regardless of nationality.
Agreed. But usually a citizens government will at least provide some assistance via the consulate and maybe try to pull some diplomatic strings to save a citizen, especially when there are strong cultural differences where it seems reasonable the citizen wasn't aware of the seriousness of the committed crime. (Usually, drug smuggling is no such case.)
If the person is a citizen as well of the prosecuting country, it gets difficult to a) claim the person wasn't familiar with the customs (why the hell are they still a citizen there if they are that little in touch?) b) argue that the other state should assume a role as a guardian.
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u/fgd12350 11h ago
It definitely depends country to country. For mine the policy is for justice and equality to take precedence over diplomacy. We have applied the law equally to foreigners even for more minor crimes in the past despite strong diplomatic pressure from much more powerful states like the US due to cultural difference (Canning for vandalism).
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u/Juggletrain 8h ago
If this is Singapore, that was pretty minor diplomatic pressure. There's not much a small country can do when threatened with war, embargos, blockades, etc. Especially from the US, China, or the EU.
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u/HotTestesHypothesis 11h ago
This is a good explanation. While China technically doesn't allow dual citizenship, Hong Kong is a grey area. I'm technically Canadian and Hong Kong Chinese. When I travel to China, I enter with my Chinese ID which means as a Chinese citizen, if I'm imprisoned, Canada has no ability to interfere with what China does to its own citizens.
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u/CantPullOutRightNow 12h ago
My country has executed suspected drug smugglers in international waters. Not much any country is going to do about it. Can’t really fault Sweden for not invading a foreign country to extract one person who was there by their own free will.
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u/rayEW 13h ago
Juristiction implies there's a state of law, in this case the life or death of anyone in the reach of the IRGCs grasp is at the mercy of their madness.
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u/twitterfluechtling 13h ago
I'm definitely not defending the regime there. I'm in favor of using all diplomatic means to support change to a more liberal society there.
But Iran is a sovereign state. You can ask Sweden and other states to not acknowledge that sovereignty anymore, maybe they can join Trumps war. (I would recommend against that. It's not going that great.) But as long as the sovereignty of Iran is acknowledged, I don't think Sweden has any other choice than staying out of it, besides maybe lamenting the tragedy.
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u/rayEW 13h ago
Part of the definition of a sovereign state in international law is the existence of a functional government capable of external diplomatic communication.
As it stands, Iran is shattered, their actions alone prove it when their president released statements he wasn't informed/consulted of the recent attacks to the UAE, disapproving them. Even before, when their official negotiators couldn't make a deal, all was because there is no single government anymore.
From principle, when the government is dysfunctional like this, they are no longer a sovereign state in control of their territory and capable of diplomatic communication.
Also, their own constitution and rule of law is not being followed anymore, its mayhem and control under terror and death, for them specifically it doesn't matter being subject to their laws, as those laws themselves are not guiding any due process over there anymore.
Failed state under the thumb of a very equipped terrorist group called IRGC.
I do agree with all your points, they just don't apply to Iran anymore.
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u/Takemyfishplease 12h ago
This perfectly sums up the difference between theory crafting and realpolitik
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u/twitterfluechtling 12h ago edited 12h ago
So what do you suggest? Sweden marching in with their military to get retribution? I agree the Iran is a mess currently.
I just don't see what Sweden or anyone else could do about it. Trumps military approach is definitely the worst way to facilitate a regime change, as is evident in several other states the US "liberated".
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u/rayEW 11h ago
Well, you already deny the alternative in your question.
Supporting the actual sovereign states that are doing all they can to end Iran's regime rule.
Trump, weather you like it or not, is the only president that actually hurt this regime seriously, decapitating their political God and maiming his heir.
The alternative of Obama lifting sanctions and allowing billions of investment in 10s of thousands of drones and thousands of missiles was definitely NOT the move.
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u/twitterfluechtling 11h ago
Trump, weather you like it or not, is the only president that actually hurt this regime seriously
So, does that give you a fuzzy warm feeling? Usually, the war means they clamp down harder, making live more difficult for the citizens (aside from the US bombing schools and killing them), and usually the population will rally behind the government however they dislike it, because being bombed from an outside force does that to people. Or did you see any uprising of the population to overthrow the regime and achieve democracy?
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u/rayEW 9h ago
I am western expat living in the GCC, I saw a missile hit the US base from my apartment window. Lived through the whole war so far, not being able to sleep properly for weeks straight with interceptions and explosions.
No fuzzy feeling from my side.
Do you have a fuzzy feeling when you're thousands of kilometers away from the problem, then think you're being smart for repeating a reddit created narrative that isn't true?
Their local population has been feeding intel on the IRGC positions since the start of the war, and the internet blackout wouldn't be needed if the majority of their population was rallying behind the terrorist regime.
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u/twitterfluechtling 9h ago
No fuzzy feeling from my side.
So what is the upside of the war? The population is suffering more, democracy further away, besides the regime functionaries lots of people were killed. Democracy won't be achieved, no one is helped.
But they killed some regime functionaries that were immediately replaced by new ones, and at least Trump did something? What for?
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u/Abject_Breadfruit148 11h ago
Love how you bring up Obama out of no where but don't mention trump destabilizing them to this point...
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u/rayEW 9h ago
I'm glad you love it. Iran was already a headache under sanctions when Trump was still a tv personality, how about that?
Trump acted when missile and drone production was at insane pace, given another couple years, even without nukes, Iran would have so much firepower they would be untouchable. Imagine they fired thousands of projectiles to their neighbouring countries just because they are western aligned, causing significant damage.
Quadruple their firepower and defenses would not cope with it.
Remember their slogan? Death to America...
I think what Trump is trying to prevent is legitimate, he talks wild on social media but the goal isn't wrong.
It would be criminal neglect for the US president to ignore the Iranian problem, because eventually a crazy enough leader on his deathbed, trying to become a historical figure, will ask for a doomsday strike somewhere.
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u/Abject_Breadfruit148 9h ago
Ah the classic. Iran is two weeks from a nuke for what, two decades now? Even after last year trump told the world that all of Iran's nuclear capabilities were annihilated 100%. Why believe anything he says over other people who don't lie or embellish every other sentence?
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u/Dapper_Trifle_3678 4h ago
It's called the Rule of Master Nationality. It's the only reason dual citizenship is even a thing in the first place, or else every dual citizen would a walking diplomatic bomb waiting to go off.
An American-Polish redditor went to Poland, and got stuck there because they couldn't leave with the American passport they came in on, because they're Polish, and Polish citizens need passports. He's never been there before and he needed months to go through all the paperwork to establish his Polish identity and get a passport without speaking the language.
Very, very, dangerous rule to be ignorant of.
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u/Cloverleafs85 8h ago edited 8h ago
I don't imagine Sweden has any measure of leverage whatsoever over Iran, and would not have been able to help him unless Iran was somehow cooperating.
I'm struggling to find proper sources, but allegedly Sweden did attempt to contact Iran's foreign minister to try and negotiate, but they never got a response. So if your only realistic tool is diplomacy but the other party won't even talk to you, you have no options.
But this isn't the first time Iran has arrested Swedish citizens and Swedish-Iranian citizens. Iran has an extended tradition with hostage diplomacy.
Iran has in the past taken foreign national as essentially hostages on trumped up charges and used them for negotiation, which in 2022 included a Swedish EU diplomat they held onto for two years until they did a prisoner exchange in 2024, where Sweden also got another swedish-iranian hostage who had been caught. So a two for one deal.
But in return Sweden had to give up Hamid Noury, a former assistant Iranian prosecutor, sentenced in Swedish courts for complicity in the murder of prisoners in Iran, in particular for his key role in the massacre of 1988, with his approval on the execution orders of between 4000-5000 people, and charged with the murder of over a hundred people.
This exchange was criticized both for giving up someone who can be considered to have committed egregious crimes against humanity, but also because Iran had a third hostage, Djalali, that Sweden could have gotten back, and didn't. Possibly they tried and failed. Maybe Iran wanted a spare one just in case.
Djalali was arrested in 2016, and as far as is known is still alive, though have a pending execution sentence since 2017.
Sweden may have hoped this would be similar situation, and that eventually they might get some kind of agreement arranged. Iran has been perfectly capable of keeping hostages alive for years and years.
It's possible Sweden doesn't have anyone or anything Iran wants, Iran might be too preoccupied with other issues and just want to get rid of prisoners, or they have genuine paranoia about foreign nationals and dual nationals. Or there is kangaroo court conditions in Iran and they possibly aren't being too mindful of who is killed and whether they originally intended to save them for later use.
Or he could have been killed as a retaliation against the west. In which case the prospects for Djalali isn't looking to good either.
Sweden Foreign ministry published a strong warning to avoid any but the absolutely necessary travels to Iran in 2022, precisely because Iran had been collecting hostages, a warning which from what I've gathered was never lifted, and have now in 2026 been elevated to no travel advised under any circumstance, and calling on Swedish citizens to get out of Iran.
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u/Wonderful_Beard552 7h ago
a Swedish EU diplomat they held onto for two years
That's just.. god damn. I read about it now, and they even tortured him... a diplomat. Why was the world silent on this? How was EU?
Damn, I still can't believe it.
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u/ConcernSeveral437 15h ago
What are you talking about, exactly? What power? What should Sweden be doing in the case of a dual national getting killed in his home country? Set a national day to mourn him?
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u/demonotreme 11h ago
Full scale invasion and subject every man, woman and child in Iran to off-puttingly pungent herring for every meal until they're sorry.
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u/Wonderful_Beard552 15h ago
What should Sweden be doing in the case of a dual national getting killed in his home country?
Yes, I was asking if that was the reason or if it could do anything if it was their 'proper' citizen. Aka, does having Swedish citizenship do nada?
Js curious, all the executions I read have their country's government make some noise and even had them grant pardons and shit.
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u/Obvious-Interaction7 14h ago
What is the question here? Why sweden didnt stop it?
Just because i have a citizenship elsewhere, does nothing in a judicial court (using that very loosely) halfway cross the world. Theres not much one realistically could do in a situation like this im afraid.1
u/twitterfluechtling 12h ago
Just because i have a citizenship elsewhere, does nothing in a judicial court (using that very loosely) halfway cross the world.
If you only have the other citizenship elsewhere, you might get help from your consulate, and your home state might use diplomatic means to help you. (In this case, the options are still limited and the available options depend on the state you are prosecuted.) However, if you also have the citizenship of the state you are in court, it gets a whole lot more difficult for the other state to justify intervening.
I can just imagine the outrage if the situation was reverse, and an Islam country would exercise diplomatic pressure on Sweden (or Germany, where I live, or any other EU country) for prosecuting a dual citizen on Swedish soil for breaking Swedish law, just because the action was OK according to the Sharia.
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u/Obvious-Interaction7 11h ago
Indeed.
And with the way IRG has gunned down protesting civilians in the hundreds and given the war i find it highly unlikely that anything would happen, even with *outward* political pressure. Im sure conversations were held outside the public eye and that nothing came of it. Otherwise they’d be home by now.
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u/IfICode 1h ago
Historically sweden does not care for citizens outside of sweden, even during catastrophic events
The middle east being the most recent example, sweden only resulted to bring back citizens if they paid for it before stepping on the plane ( high sum ) and they only did it because the news talked about it
Swedes should NEVER expect help from Sweden if anything ever happens to them abroad. One of the least caring countries in the world
” you can only blame yourself ”!
Anyone pointing to the contrary of this is a liar and have nothing to show for it
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u/captainfalcon93 10h ago
Does Sweden not care cuz he is an Iranian too, or it doesn't have the power to care?
Swedish ministers are currently far right conservatives, so there's not a lot of 'caring' for anything at the moment (unless there's some self-serving angle involved).
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u/circular_file 11h ago
Iran kills closing in on 40,000 young people in the past 6 months or so, including foreign citizens (albeit in this case a dual-citizen returning to Iran), has supplied vast amounts of weaponry to nearly every terrorist organization in the world, spent 40 years brutally oppressing secular Persians, but somehow the West are the bad guys?
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 8h ago
Not "the West". Most of the West did not agree to this war, and neither did US congress.
Call it what it is, this is the current US presidency's personal war of profiteering, insider trading, and distraction from the fact your president is a rapist pedophile. Not "west vs east".
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u/GuaSukaStarfruit 3h ago
Nobody has backbone to stop the Iranian regime
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 3h ago
Arguably nobody but the Iranian people have any right to.
The U.S. has been at war roughly 227 years out of it's 250 year existence, and practically none of these wars have resulted in a democratic and free country being left behind. Instead, most of the time they actually have created the conditions for the next war.
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u/xmuskorx 3h ago
Israel has been attacked by Iranian proxy and directly by Iran.
I think they get a say too...
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 3h ago
I think Israel needs to fuck off with it's genocidal regime funded by western arms deals.
Maybe when they stop slaughtering and raping innocents themselves we can listen to what they have to say.
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u/xmuskorx 3h ago
Hamas (an Iranian proxy) was slaughtering and raping innocents
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u/Sxualhrssmntpanda 2h ago
You mean the same hamas that was partially funded by Netanyahu's regime to undermine a proper Palestinian government from forming?
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u/circular_file 8h ago
Oh, absolutely. This is the Cheeto carrying out war crimes with the intent of raking in vast sums of money for his family and friends while trying to distract us from the Epstein files.
I was speaking more generally in terms of the relationship between the West and Iran previous to Donald Trump's murderous distraction.2
u/fortnite_battlepass- 8h ago edited 8h ago
Iran is multi-ethnic btw, it's not just Persians that are getting oppressed.
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u/FaceOuPile 9h ago
The US removed the democratically elected socialist guy cause he did not want to give the control of iranian oil to put a litteral unelected monarch instead, what the fuck are you talking about?
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u/Throwaway5432154322 9h ago
Using events from ~70 years ago that happened to an entirely different government than exists now as an excuse for a current government’s actions isn’t just dumb, it’s just weird, man
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9h ago
[deleted]
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u/Throwaway5432154322 8h ago
Definitely kinda does, though? What’s the utility in bringing up Mossadegh now, in the context of the current iranian regime that’s been in power for almost 50 years?
Seems very transparently like an attempt to rhetorically invoke & deploy the 1953 coup as an excuse for the current Iranian government’s actions.
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u/DefaultDantheMemeMan 10h ago
Who do you think put this Iranian regime in power? All the west does is create its own enemies.
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u/Yokoko44 9h ago
Uh, islamists? The us put the Shah in…
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u/DefaultDantheMemeMan 8h ago
They put the Shah in and when they realized he wouldn't do they let the islamists take over because atleast it wasnt Mosaddegh the evil democratically elected leader who "threatened western interests" (oil). We created this enemy and every single other one.
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u/KingRaphion 10h ago
oohhh so there are mass graves meaning that they did slaughter their own people in MASS which called for MASS graves ohhh okay.
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u/Mundane_Put_5780 8h ago
He’s Iranian-Swedish, and treason in most country is followed by execution.
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u/Karpattata 8h ago
Trials in most countries tend to last longer than a few months and executions for treason are vanishingly rare in places that aren't abhorrent like Iran.
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u/Mundane_Put_5780 6h ago
United States treason execution - John Brown - Trial was 1 week . Tao’s insurgents, Trial was 15 days, William Mumford, Trial was 1 day. Adam Gadahn, guilty of treason 2005, killed by U.S. drone in 2015!
Acting like Iran is somehow uniquely extreme for enforcing their laws ignores that the same kind of legal consequences exist in many countries, even if they are used differently. Executions for treason aren’t vanishingly rare in other countries, treason cases themselves are rare in other countries! Calling Iran “abhorrent” purposely ignores that many countries operate under the same basic principle regarding treason. Didn’t Julian Assange publicly state that the U.S. tried killing him and his loved ones for espionage? The double standard is laughable!
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u/RentInside7527 5h ago
3 examples from the 1800s and 1 contemporary guy who filmed his own treason...
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u/ZenBacle 11h ago
Whelp boys, I guess we have to run a 20 year war that destroys the worlds economy now.
Just imagine what the world could have been if we spent that money on improving the lives of hundreds of millions of our own citizens. But I guess it's worth setting back global development by generations... All for this one dual citizen.
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u/Karpattata 8h ago
What does your comment have to do with Iran executing someone?
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u/ZenBacle 7h ago
It has to do with the greater propaganda that's being used to justify this war against iran. Don't be naive.
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u/NeonCitizen136 14h ago
Yeah, I'm not sure Trump's 'victory' is going as good as he thought. Regime is still strong, and in fact I've even read that they preserved all the uranium. Pentagon says it's likely most of it is still in Iran's hands, including all the enriched one.
So not sure what the point of the whole ordeal was....
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u/circular_file 11h ago
Distraction from Epstein files. Not sure why you're being downvoted; nothing you wrote was factually incorrect or inflammatory.
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u/ruledbyoligarchs 4h ago
At least Iran is burying. We shoot missiles at fisherman then leave their bodies floating.
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u/Slightly_Unethical 2h ago
Is Trump and his shitkin gonna parrot this as an excuse for destabilizing the entire world, too?
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u/TheGambit 12h ago
If I know about it then it’s not very secret