Iran and Sweden trade diplomat expulsions after Stockholm cites improper activities

Iran has ordered a Swedish diplomat to leave the country within 48 hours after Sweden expelled an Iranian diplomat from its embassy in Stockholm. The move marks a fresh reciprocal diplomatic confrontation between Tehran and Stockholm, with both sides accusing the other of breaching diplomatic norms. Iran said the Swedish decision was unjustified, while Sweden said the expelled diplomat had engaged in improper activities incompatible with the Vienna Convention.

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According to Iran's foreign ministry, the Swedish ambassador in Tehran was summoned on Thursday and told of the reciprocal expulsion order. The ministry said the Swedish action was based on what it called baseless claims and alleged that Israel had influenced the decision. Sweden's foreign ministry had summoned the Iranian ambassador in Stockholm on Wednesday before ordering the expulsion of one of the embassy's diplomats, but it did not give further details about the conduct it was referring to.

Tehran said any disruption to the embassy's work would engage Sweden's international responsibility under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The dispute adds to a pattern of strained relations between the two countries. Iran and Sweden have previously clashed over diplomatic and legal issues, including a prisoner swap in June 2024 that saw Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi released in exchange for Hamid Nouri, a former Iranian prison official who had been serving a life sentence in Sweden.

Nouri had been arrested at Stockholm Airport in November 2019 and later convicted over his role in the mass execution of political prisoners in Iran in 1988. The latest expulsions suggest that diplomatic tensions remain unresolved despite earlier exchanges. The confrontation also carries wider significance because it touches on the rules governing embassy conduct and the protection of diplomatic missions.

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Both governments have invoked the Vienna Convention, which sets out the framework for diplomatic relations and the responsibilities of host states. Iran's statement also referred to Sweden's alleged hosting of what it called terrorist groups, underscoring the political sensitivity surrounding the dispute. For Sweden, the case comes against a backdrop of broader European concerns about Iranian activity abroad.

Those concerns were reflected in July 2025, when Sweden joined several European countries, the United States and Canada in accusing Tehran of orchestrating plots to threaten, abduct and harass dissidents, journalists and activists overseas. That accusation is not directly linked to the latest expulsions, but it helps explain why diplomatic relations between the two capitals have remained fragile. The current dispute therefore sits within a longer period of mistrust, legal confrontation and mutual accusations.

It remains unclear whether either side will take further steps beyond the expulsions already announced. Neither government has publicly detailed the conduct that led to Sweden's decision, and Iran has not said whether it expects the matter to be resolved through diplomatic channels. What happens next will depend on whether the two foreign ministries can contain the dispute or whether it develops into a broader bilateral row.

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