Iran expels Swedish diplomat in tit-for-tat after Stockholm's move

Tehran has ordered a Swedish diplomat to leave Iranian territory within 48 hours, after Sweden expelled an Iranian diplomat from its embassy in Stockholm on Wednesday over activities described as incompatible with diplomatic norms.

Alireza Yousofi, director-general for Western Europe at Iran's foreign ministry, summoned the Swedish ambassador in Tehran on Thursday to deliver the reciprocal expulsion order and convey what he described as Iran's protest at Sweden's "destructive policies and its hosting of terrorist groups."

Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement that Sweden's decision to restrict the activities of an Iranian diplomat was "baseless" and attributed it to alleged Israeli influence, describing the move as an attempt to disrupt normal operations at the Iranian embassy in Stockholm.

Tehran warned that any disruption of the embassy's work would engage Sweden's international responsibility under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Sweden's foreign ministry had summoned the Iranian ambassador in Stockholm on Wednesday and ordered the expulsion of one of his embassy's diplomats, citing "improper activities incompatible with the Vienna Convention." It gave no further details of what those activities involved.

Sweden and Iran have a history of diplomatic confrontations. In June 2024, two Swedish citizens, Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi, were released in a prisoner swap in exchange for Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prison official who had been serving a life sentence in Sweden.

Nouri was arrested at Stockholm Airport in November 2019 under universal jurisdiction and convicted for his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988.

In July 2025, Sweden joined several European countries, the US and Canada in accusing Tehran of orchestrating plots to threaten, abduct and harass dissidents, journalists and activists abroad.