Sweden has expelled an Iranian diplomat which prompted a similar move by Tehran. Swedish news agency TT said a source at the Foreign Ministry confirmed the Iranian diplomat had been suspected of spying on Iranian refugees in Sweden.
"One Iranian diplomat was asked to leave earlier this year. At the same time, a Swedish diplomat was asked to leave Iran," Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Gufran Al-Nadaf said. The spokeswoman would not comment on why the Iranian diplomat had been asked to leave and said she had no information about why the Swedish diplomat had left Iran.
Al-Nadaf said the Swedish diplomat was a second secretary at the Tehran embassy. He has been back in Scandinavia since February. She said he had taken up his post in September 2007 and had been on a two-year posting.