The family of a Swedish European Union employee detained in Iran has urged the international community to help secure his release after more than 500 days of incarceration for alleged spying, his family said on Sunday. His family said Floderus had traveled throughout the Middle East to study languages, explore historic sites and to support humanitarian cooperation projects in Iran on behalf of the EU, and was arrested in April 2022 before leaving the country. Tehran says such arrests are based on its criminal code and denies holding people for political reasons