Swiss citizen found dead in Iran prison – DW – 01/09/2025

A Swiss citizen detained in Iran on spying charges committed suicide in prison on Thursday, Mizan news agency quoted the chief judge of Iran’s Semnan province as saying.

The Swiss national was being held in a prison about 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Tehran.

Mohammad Sadegh Akbari said, “This morning, a Swiss citizen committed suicide in Semnan prison. This Swiss citizen was arrested by security agencies on charges of espionage… and his case was being investigated.”

“Efforts to rescue him were unsuccessful,” Mizan quoted Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, head of the province’s justice department, as saying.

The news of the death comes a day after an Italian national was released from an Iranian prison.

Swiss officials are in contact with Iran

The Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) confirmed the death in an email. The FDFA said its embassy in Tehran was in contact with local authorities to clarify what happened.

“The Swiss Embassy in Tehran is in contact with the local authorities to clarify the circumstances of the death in the Iranian prison,” FDFA spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltsinger wrote in an email. He said officials are assisting the relatives of the deceased.

Switzerland plays an important intermediary role between the United States and Iran.

The Central European country has served as a security power for Washington since it severed diplomatic ties with Tehran in 1979 following the occupation of the US embassy in support of the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis.

jsi/ab (AP, Reuters, AFP)

Editor’s Note: If you are suffering from severe emotional stress or suicidal thoughts, do not hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information about where to get such help, no matter where you live in the world, on this website: https://www.befrienders.org/