Swiss authorities have called on Tehran to provide full details on the death of a 64-year-old Swiss national in an Iranian prison following his arrest last month on allegations of spying.
“Switzerland is demanding that the Iranian authorities provide detailed information on the reasons for his arrest and a full investigation into the circumstances of his death,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Valentin Clivaz told RFE/RL in an e-mail on January 10.
Clivaz added that the Swiss Embassy in Tehran has been in daily contact with Iranian authorities since it was informed of the arrest on December 10, 2024, but that, because the allegations included espionage, it was not granted access to the detainee.
SEE ALSO: Iran In 'Critical Situation' After Punishing Year At Home And Abroad“On January 9, 2025, the embassy was informed that the Swiss man had taken his own life in prison,” the Swiss statement said.
It added it was withholding the name of the deceased for the protection of the victim's family but that repatriation of the body to Switzerland is a "top priority."
The Mizan news website, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, said the Swiss citizen had been "arrested by security agencies for espionage and his case was under investigation" when he took his own life at the prison in the eastern city of Semnan on January 9.
Mizan quoted Mohammad Sadeq Akbari, the chief justice of Semnan Province, as saying the individual was being held in a cell with another prisoner and took his life when the cellmate was not present.
Akbari did not name the Swiss citizen or provide further details, saying an investigation is being conducted and that, so far, "suicide is certain" as the cause of death.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said the man was traveling in Iran as a tourist at the time of his arrest and that he had not lived in Switzerland for nearly 20 years. He last lived in southern Africa, it said.
Several European countries and the United States have characterized the Islamic republic's arrest of Western citizens as "hostage diplomacy," claiming Tehran uses such detentions as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West.
On January 10, the French Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest Tehran's detention of three French citizens it says are state “hostages” and demanded their immediate release.
“The situation is intolerable, with undignified detention conditions that, for some, constitute torture under international law," the ministry said.
Teacher Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, were detained in Iran in May 2022, accused of organizing labor protests. A third French national, identified only by the first name Olivier, has also been held since 2022.
In 2021, a Swiss diplomat died under mysterious circumstances in Iran.
SEE ALSO: Jump In Iranian Executions In 2024 Prompts UN OutrageIranian media said the person died from a fall from a high-rise building just outside of Tehran. Swiss authorities did not identify the victim, nor did they give details on the incident.
In December 2024, the Swiss Attorney General's Office said the case of the diplomat's death had been closed and that an investigation had not proven any "criminal interference by a third party."
The investigation reportedly was complicated by the absence of organs in the victim after an initial autopsy was performed in Iran.
Switzerland has represented the United States diplomatically in Iran since Washington and Tehran cut ties in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry, in its January 10 statement, said that there were no other Swiss nationals in Iranian custody at this time.