Sweden, EU confirm Swedish national has been held in Iran since last year

By KARL RITTER and JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden says a Swedish citizen in his 30s was arbitrarily detained in Iran last year. The Swedish government didn’t name the man, but the New York Times identified him as Johan Floderus, a Swede who had been working for the European Union’s diplomatic corps. Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper on Monday said Floderus was arrested on a private trip to Iran for possible use by Tehran as a bargaining chip in efforts to seek concessions from the West. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, told the semi-official Fars news agency that he had no information on the case. The Swedish Foreign Ministry said the man was detained in Iran in April last year but declined to give details.