A Swedish citizen travelling as a tourist has been detained in Iran in the latest incident to worsen relations between the two countries.

In a brief comment by email, Sweden’s foreign ministry said on Friday that the man was in his 30s and that the embassy in Tehran was “seeking information and is in contact with local authorities”.

Iranian authorities did not immediately acknowledge the arrest. Neither Iran’s judiciary nor its mission to the United Nations responded immediately to requests for comment.

Sweden’s Aftonbladet tabloid wrote on Thursday evening that the man was arrested as he was about to leave Iran, where he was travelling with other Swedes. No date for the arrest was given.

The newspaper linked the arrest with the trial in Sweden of an Iranian accused of genocide. The verdict in that case is due on July 14.

Hamid Nouri

Swedish prosecutors have sought life imprisonment for Hamid Nouri, who has been held in custody in Sweden since he was arrested in Stockholm in November 2019.

The Stockholm District Court said this week that Nouri will “remain in custody until the verdict is announced or otherwise is decided”.

Iran also is planning to execute an Iranian-Swedish researcher imprisoned since 2016 and accused of spying, according to an Iranian media report.

The report by the ISNA news agency quoted Iranian officials as saying that Iran will implement the death penalty against Ahmad Reza Jalali by May 21 at the latest.