Ahmadreza Djalali: A Swedish-Iranian Academic Wrongfully on Death Row
Ahmadreza Djalali is a Swedish-Iranian physician and academic working extensively on disaster medicine. He has been detained by the Iranian government since 2016 and faces execution.
Ahmadreza has studied medicine across Europe and Iran, focusing on emergency preparedness in hospitals. In April 2016, he returned to Iran by invitation from the University of Tehran and Shiraz University to attend academic workshops.
During this visit, as Ahmadreza was driving from Tehran to Karaj, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security arrested him without a warrant. He was accused of “collaborating with hostile governments” and “endangering national security,” although authorities did not reveal his charges until two weeks after his arrest. He was sent to Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, where he was held for seven months before being allowed legal representation. During this period, he spent three months in solitary confinement—a practice the international community considers a form of torture when it exceeds 15 days. Ahmadreza was subjected to cruel psychological abuse, including threats that he would be executed and his children arrested.
In 2017, Ahmadreza was tried and convicted for “corruption on earth,” with authorities claiming he had shared intelligence with the Israeli government regarding Iran’s nuclear program. His lawyer was barred from the court room and denied access to Ahmadreza’s case files. Ahmadreza was formally sentenced to death in October 2017. Under threat of execution, he was coerced into reading a written script admitting to his crimes. This forced confession was then aired across state-sponsored news channels. His lawyer has tried to appeal for judicial review, but his requests have continuously been denied.
Ahmadreza has spent a total of nine years in Evin prison. In late 2020, he was transferred to solitary confinement and was informed that he would be executed within a matter of days, prompting urgent pleas for international intervention. Sweden and Iran carried out a prisoner exchange in 2024, but Ahmadreza was not included in the agreement. In May 2025, he suffered from a heart attack, but prison authorities delayed his medical care, in direct violation of humanitarian law. Two months later, Ahmadreza and other prisoners were relocated following airstrikes on the facility. His family was left in the dark as to his whereabouts until late September 2025, when they learned he had been returned to Evin Prison.
Ahmadreza’s detention and pending execution are consistent with Tehran’s broader tactic of holding foreign nationals and dual citizens hostage to extract political concessions from other countries. Ahmadreza has been used as a bargaining chip as Iranian authorities attempt to leverage his life and freedom to counter prosecutions of Iranian officials or former officials in Europe. State-linked media outlets have explicitly stated that executing Ahmadreza would deter foreign governments from prosecuting Iranian officials. His treatment in prison has, at times, coincided with geopolitical developments, such as when he was removed from solitary confinement amid talks to revive the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Furthermore, Ahmadreza’s ordeal is likely retribution for his prior refusal to spy on Iran’s behalf. Iranian authorities had previously requested that Ahmadreza leverage his academic ties to spy on European institutions, but he refused—an event which likely motivated his arrest. Ahmadreza’s research partners have stated that they received no funding from Israel and never collaborated with Israeli researchers, providing further evidence that his conviction is illegitimate and politically motivated.
Ahmadreza’s death sentence has not yet been carried out, but the threat of execution remains. Earlier execution dates were postponed amid Iran’s ongoing efforts to leverage his life to extract concessions from the Swedish government. Yet the threat to Ahmadreza’s life must not be underestimated. Between January and September 2025, Iran carried out at least 1,000 documented executions, though the true number is likely higher. Within this group, ten of the executed were convicted of espionage, and eight of the ten were convicted of spying for Israel. Amid Iran’s escalating campaign of repression, Ahmadreza’s release must be an immediate and crucial priority.
In a message to the McCain Institute’s John McCain Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative (FPPI), his wife Vida Mehrannia said, “Ahmadreza Djalali’s story is a stark reminder of how easily justice can be silenced when political interests take precedence over human rights.”
“He is a dedicated physician and scholar whose only crime was pursuing knowledge and sharing it across borders,” she continued. “Nine years of imprisonment, constant threats of execution, and deteriorating health are unacceptable. The international community must act decisively—his life cannot be held hostage for politics. Freedom for Ahmadreza is not just a moral imperative; it is a test of our collective commitment to human dignity and justice.”
The McCain Institute believes that Ahmadreza must be released immediately before it is too late.
This report was drafted and prepared by Junior Fellow Ariane Gottlieb from publicly available sources and reviewed by the FPPI and Global Democracy Director Pedro Pizano and Global Democracy Sr. Director Laura Thornton. It was approved by Ahmadreza’s lawyers and representatives.