Iran Threat Commission Condemns Escalating Threat Against Ahmadreza Djalali

(New York, NY) -- Iran Threat Commission On Hostage Taking and Targeting of Civilians ("Iran Threat Commission") co-chair Radoslaw Sikorski and Iranian hostage crisis survivor Barry Rosen, who convened the commission, released the following statements today on the Islamic Republic of Iran's planned execution of Swedish-Iranian hostage Ahmadreza Djalali and reported taking of a second Swedish citizen and potentially two more European nationals hostage. .

Former Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense Radoslaw Sikorski "Iran has reminded the world of its full embrace of illegal and immoral hostage diplomacy in announcing its intention to execute Ahmadreza Djalali as Swedish authorities near completion of their prosecution of a former regime official for war crimes stemming from his role in a 1988 massacre of civilians. The international community and civil society must condemn the Iranian regime for its brazen use of an innocent civilian as a bargaining chip to stop a lawful, evidence-based trial.

"I call upon Iran to release Ahmadreza and applaud the Swedish government's prudent warning against non-essential travel to Iran. I recommend all European nations to do the same. Sadly, at least two m ore European nationals may have also been taken hostage in recent days. During his meetings in Tehran this week, the deputy secretary-general of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora should raise this matter with his Iranian interlocutors and demand an end to this behavior. The situation cries out for creativity, coordination, and action. Hostage diplomacy is intolerable and must be stopped."

Iran Hostage Crisis Survivor Barry Rosen "I am deeply distressed by the terror being inflicted on Ahmadreza and his family. He is a husband, father, and skilled expert in emergency disaster medicine. He is not a spy and his captors know it. I know first-hand the physical and psychological torture the Iranian regime is capable of and undoubtedly imposing on the hostages it holds today. It sickens me that nothing has changed in more than 40 years. Iran still takes hostages and the international community treats the regime's practices as secondary matter unworthy of a multilateral effort. That posture has failed Ahmadreza and every other hostage. It's time to free the hostages and chart a smarter course in ending Iran's hostage diplomacy."

ABOUT THE IRAN THREAT COMMISSION: The Iran Threat commission is a non-partisan transatlantic group developing policy recommendations that reduce and ultimately eliminate Iran's hostage diplomacy and targeting of civilians abroad. Convened by Iran Hostage Crisis survivor Barry Rosen following a January 2022 hunger strike in Vienna, its membership is comprised of former hostages, and targets of the Iranian regime. The Iran Threat Commission is co-chaired by former U.S. Homeland Security Advisor Frances F. Townsend and former Polish Foreign and Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

Date: May 11, 2022

Contact: press@iranthreatcommission.org