Italy – Il Manifesto, April 23, 2025
In a normal country, Ahmadreza Djalali would have been leading pandemic response efforts or coordinating aid following earthquakes or floods. Unfortunately, Djalali was born in Iran, where he was arrested on April 25, 2016.
Despite holding a Swedish passport and having worked at prestigious universities in Sweden, Belgium, and Italy (including at CRIMEDIM, the Research Center in Emergency and Disaster Medicine at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Novara from 2012 to 2015), none of the three governments have taken substantial action on his behalf.
Djalali remains one of the last hostages in Iranian custody. These individuals can only be described as innocent people imprisoned, and in some cases sentenced (Djalali was sentenced to death by hanging), for fabricated charges—held until their home state offers something in return: money, judicial concessions, or other forms of leverage.
Over the years, many Western passport holders have been released and returned home: Americans, French, British, Belgians, Swedes, and Italians. Many—but not all.
On October 30, 2023, Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen, was executed.
In 2016, already living in Stockholm with his wife and children, Djalali accepted an invitation to return to Iran—a chance to see his family. It turned out to be a trap. He was arrested on April 25.
Iranian authorities asked him to gather intelligence from the international scientific community he was engaged with, preferably involving Israel. His response was firm: “I am a scientist, not a spy.” He repeated that throughout the interrogation, in prison, during his trial, and from death row.
The reprisal came quickly: within a year, he was sentenced to death for “espionage for a hostile entity” (specifically, Israel).
