Embassy in Tehran seeks clarification on how unidentified prisoner died as judiciary’s media reports he killed himself.

Switzerland has confirmed the death of one of its nationals who was imprisoned on espionage charges in Iran’s Semnan province.

Pierre-Alain Eltschinger, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, confirmed the death on Thursday, the Associated Press news agency reported. He said that the Swiss embassy in Tehran was in contact with local authorities to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Semnan prison is located some 180 kilometres (112 miles) east of Iran’s capital, Tehran.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported that the man, who was not identified, had asked his cellmate to bring him food and then killed himself while he was alone.

“Efforts to save him were unsuccessful,” Mizan quoted Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, the head of the province’s justice department, as saying.

Switzerland plays an important intermediary role between Washington and Tehran, representing United States interests in Iran since the 1979 US Embassy takeover and hostage crisis.

Detentions of foreigners

In recent years, Iran’s security forces have arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.

Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests. Iran strongly denies this.

On Wednesday, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, a reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was released by the Iranian authorities after three weeks in jail and returned home.

Sala had been in the country on a regular journalist visa when she was detained in Tehran last month, accused of “violating the laws of the Islamic Republic”.

Iran denied speculation that her arrest was linked to Rome’s detention of an Iranian businessman accused by the United States of involvement in an attack on its military.