Iran secretly buries executed Swedish citizen at site linked to mass graves

Iran's security agents secretly buried the body of Iranian-Swedish citizen Kourosh Keyvani in the Khavaran area outside Tehran after he was executed in March on charge of spying for Israel, sources familiar with the matter told Iran International.

The sources said Keyvani was executed on the morning of March 18 without his family being informed, and his body was buried on March 23 in Khavaran.

Keyvani’s family later tried to mark the unmarked gravesite by placing stones nearby, but authorities removed them to prevent the burial location from being identified, the sources told Iran International.

Khavaran, in southeast Tehran, is known as a burial site associated with executed political prisoners, including victims of Iran’s 1988 mass executions. Families of those buried there have long accused authorities of preventing them from marking graves or holding public mourning ceremonies.

Sources said Keyvani had been arrested on June 16, 2025, in Kordan, a mountainous village in Alborz province, west of Tehran and near the city of Karaj.

One source said Keyvani had a strong interest in motorcycling, especially jumping with motorcycles, and was riding in Kordan on the day of his arrest.

The source said security agents confiscated his phone during the arrest and used landscape photos he had taken in the area as evidence in the case, alleging links to Mossad and opposition groups.

Iran's judiciary-linked Mizan news agency on March 18 announced that Keyvani had been executed after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. Mizan alleged that Keyvani had passed “images and information of sensitive locations” to officers of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

At the time, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard expressed deep regret over the execution and said the Swedish government sympathized with Keyvani’s family in Sweden and Iran. She added that the legal proceedings leading up to the execution did not meet the standards of due process.

Sources told Iran International that on the night before the execution, Keyvani was summoned via loudspeaker without prior notice and held in solitary confinement until morning.

After Keyvani's detention, his family had no information about his condition or whereabouts for around 40 days. He was held in solitary confinement for nearly eight months and was told he would be released if he accepted the charges and made a "forced confession," according to the sources.

According to forced confessions later published by Iranian state media, Keyvani said he had been forced into espionage because of financial need and residency issues.

But sources indicated to Iran International that he had lived in Sweden for around 10 years and did not face financial difficulties. The sources also described him as intelligent and fluent in six languages.

Keyvani was among the latest in a series of executions in Iran of people accused of espionage for Israel, a pattern that has intensified since the 12-day war in June 2025. The executions have continued during and after the 2026 US-led war.

Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world and has long used the death penalty in national security cases, including allegations of spying.

Following the conflict, rights groups and international media have reported a sharp increase in arrests and executions on such charges.

Source: iranintl.com, Farnoosh Faraji, May 3, 2026,

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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