Iran confirms expulsions of Swedish diplomat

The Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran: Iran expelled a Swedish diplomat last month for "not observing diplomatic norms," the Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday.

The expulsion of the Swedish diplomat comes after an Iranian diplomat was asked to leave Sweden on suspicions of spying on Iranian exiles. Ministry spokesmen, however, refused to comment on whether the two cases were related.

"In February, we summoned the ambassador of Sweden and told him that one of their diplomats acted against diplomatic norms and we demanded he leave," said spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini in his weekly press briefing at the ministry.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry had announced earlier on Thursday that a Swedish diplomat was asked to leave Iran in February but did not explain why.

Swedish news agency TT, citing unnamed sources in the Swedish Foreign Ministry, said the Iranian diplomat had been expelled due to suspicions he had spied on refugee opponents of the Iranian system.

More than 70,000 Iranians live in Sweden, with most having fled there after the Islamists took power in Tehran in 1979.