The head of the European Union’s diplomacy, Josep Borrell, admitted on Tuesday that a European diplomat of Swedish citizenship had been arrested in Iran for more than 500 days, according to France Presse.

Sweden refused to confirm his identity.

Borrell spoke about the case of Swedish national Johan Floderus, revealing his identity and status as a European diplomat, at an informal meeting of EU development ministers in Cadiz, southern Spain.

Johan Floderus, who works for the European External Action Service (EEAS), was detained at Tehran airport in April 2022 while returning home from vacation, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Monday. He has been in Evin prison in the capital of Iran for more than 500 days, reports the American publication.

Floderus held several positions in the EU. He was an advisor to European Commissioner for Migration Ylva Johansson and joined the EEAS in 2019.

On Monday, the European Commission refrained from commenting on the case in detail, sparking a heated exchange between the NYT reporter who broke the story and an EU spokesman during a news conference.

In a statement to Politico.eu, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said: “The government has worked – and is working – very intensively on this case.”

“The person in question was arbitrarily deprived of his liberty, and therefore he should be released immediately. This message was also sent by me personally. Apart from that, I cannot go into details,” he added.

According to the New York Times, Floderus’ arrest is the latest in a growing pattern of “hostage diplomacy” that Iran is using to try to win concessions from the West.

Earlier this year, Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecastille was released after spending more than a year in Iranian custody in exchange for terrorist Assadollah Asadi, convicted and imprisoned in Belgium.