Iran has decided to expel a Swedish diplomat in retaliation for Stockholm's expulsion of an Iranian envoy, a foreign ministry source in Tehran told AFP on Tuesday.
The source, who declined to be named, said the Swede had been given a week to leave the Islamic republic, following the expulsion of a diplomat in the commercial section of the Iranian embassy in Stockholm. The Swedish embassy was informed of Iran's decision two days ago, the source added.
The Iranian foreign ministry, for its part, has rejected Swedish charges that the Iranian envoy being deported, whose name has not been disclosed, was trying to procure "dual-use" products that could serve both civilian and military purposes.
Relations between Iran and Sweden, home to an Iranian community estimated to number over 70,000, were strained in the 1990s when Stockholm accused the Islamic republic's diplomats of spying on the Iranian opposition in exile. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
