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On Wednesday, January 11, the Iranian regime\u2019s Foreign Ministry reportedly summoned the Swedish ambassador to hear a patchwork of complaints about tensions between Tehran and not only Sweden but the European Union in general. The summons came shortly after opening an appeal process in a Stockholm court involving the former Iranian prison official Hamid Noury.\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Separately, though, the Foreign Ministry\u2019s spokesman Nasser Kanaani sought to portray Sweden\u2019s actions as inappropriate with respect to Noury\u2019s initial sentence and subsequent appeal. At the time that Noury received his sentence of life in prison for war crimes and mass murder, Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry dismissed the case as \u201cillegal and contrary to the principles of international law.\u201d It offered little explanation for this assessment, while various independent reports on the case emphasized the fact that Noury had been arrested in 2019 on the basis of \u201cuniversal jurisdiction,\u201d which explicitly allows any nation\u2019s judiciary to prosecute serious violations of international law if it is apparent that no such prosecution is forthcoming in the jurisdiction where the crimes took place.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Noury is now the first to face legal consequences<\/a> for participating in the 1988 massacre<\/a> of political prisoners, which is estimated to have claimed around 30,000 lives throughout the country. Most of the victims were supporters of Iran\u2019s main opposition group, the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK)<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Noury\u2019s crimes became evident following a months-long trial that heard testimony from dozens of the massacre\u2019s survivors, virtually all of whom identified him as someone who had called prisoners before the \u201cdeath commission\u201d in Gohardasht Prison as well as led them to the gallows after those commissions ordered summary death sentences.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The regime\u2019s authorities and state media have blatantly accused Sweden of violating Noury\u2019s rights.\u00a0 Noury’s complaints will undoubtedly come across as bitterly ironic to persons familiar with the regime\u2019s judicial system and human rights record.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to its unimaginable brutality in dealing with prisoners, the clerical regime is notorious for its systematic use of \u201cwhite torture,\u201d a practice whereby prisoners are held for months at a time in windowless cells under constant harsh lighting, with minimal stimulation or contact with the outside world. The regime is also notorious for denying prisoners medical treatment, often leading to permanent consequences or endangering their lives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Public complaints from Noury may be intended to distract attention from such stories or give the impression of parity between Iran and Western nations in human rights matters. But such a strategy is practically doomed to fail, especially when the international community scrutinizes the regime\u2019s crackdowns on the five-month anti-regime<\/a> uprising that was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September at the hands of Tehran\u2019s \u201cmorality police.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Iran: \u201cI Saw a Truck Full of Bodies\u201d Says Ex-prisoner at Noury\u2019s Trial#Iran<\/a> #1988Massacre<\/a> #StandUp4HumanRights<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/tvbfqPRmS5<\/a><\/p>\n — NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) December 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n