Two Swedes were released on Saturday in exchange for Hamid Noury, a 63-year-old Iranian former prison official handed a life sentence in Sweden in 2022 for his role in mass killings in Iranian jails in 1988.

The two Swedes were EU diplomat Johan Floderus, held in Iran since April 2022 accused of espionage, and Iranian-Swede Saeed Azizi, arrested in November.

But Djalali, held in Iran since 2016 after having been convicted of espionage, missed out on the swap.

“Mr Prime Minister, you decided to leave me behind under huge risk of being executed” Djalali said in an audio recording shared with AFP and several other media outlets by his wife Vida Mehrannia.

“I talk to you from Evin prison, inside a horrible cave where I have spent eight years, two months, almost 3,000 days of my life,” Djalali said.

Directing his message to Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Djalali asked: “Why not me?”

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström has stressed that Stockholm tried to secure his release, but Tehran refused to discuss his case as it does not recognise dual nationality.

He was granted Swedish citizenship while in jail in Iran.

“It’s just excuses,” Mehrannia told AFP. Her husband’s release “wasn’t important to them, they didn’t want to challenge Iran”, she added.

“I’m so angry, I’m at a loss for words.”

In his message, Djalali dared Kristersson to meet his son and family in front of TV cameras and tell him “why you left his father behind”.

“My son was four when I was detained and he is now 12 and a half years old. He spent two thirds of his life without a father,” Djalali said, noting his son had been born in Sweden and grown up among Swedish children.

As a result of the publishing of the recording, Djalali had been denied making calls to Sweden, Mehrannia told AFP.

“But I think it was worth it,” she said. “It was important.”

Amnesty International has called on Sweden’s government to “do everything” to ensure Djalali can return.