Iran’s Intelligence Ministry reported the arrest on 11 May of two European nationals accused of attempts to destabilize the country.
The two Europeans had arrived in the country allegedly with the aim of provoking social disorder and destabilizing the country. Both work for a foreign intelligence service, according to Iranian authorities.
The Ministry of Security released an official statement stating that the two individuals entered the country planning to “exploit conspiracy elements in the country … and to destabilize society.”
Mizan News Agency, reported that “the two European agents were carrying out the mission of foreign intelligence services and were professionals in the field of provoking riots and instability having trained local rioters in Iran for years.”
Based on the Ministry of Intelligence’s cross-border interceptions, these individuals were on the ministry’s radar from the moment they arrived in Iran until their arrest.
All their secret programs, meetings, and operational lines were transferred to security centers and have been fully monitored and documented by the security forces, according to Mizan.
In mid-March, Iran released British-Iranians Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, both imprisoned for years for crimes related to espionage and jeopardizing national security.
Their release coincided with the payment of a debt that the UK had owed Iran for more than 40 years for the purchase of 1,500 tanks that were never delivered.
On 10 May, however, Iran’s judiciary dismissed the possibility of a prisoner exchange with Sweden between former Iranian official Hamid Nouri, detained in Sweden, and Iranian-Swedish national Ahmadreza Djalali, who faces the death penalty in Iran.
The spokesman of Iran’s judiciary, Zabihollah Khodayian, said in a press conference that the two cases “have nothing to do with each other … as a result, there is no question of an exchange.”
Nouri faces charges of allegedly violating human rights during his service in 1988. The accusations leveled against him were made by members of the extremist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO).
Responding to the situation, the Secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi said: “The Swedish government, with the support of other European countries, particularly the British government, has sought the prosecution of the Islamic Republic of Iran … Sweden has pursued a hostile approach in national security issues against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”