Sweden quizzed Iran ambassador over the shutdown of a Swedish cosmetics firm - and Sakineh, the woman threatened with stoning.

• Iran accuses Oriflame of massive pyramid scheme
• Swedish cosmetics firm closed by Iran authorities

The Swedish foreign ministry has quizzed Iran's ambassador in Stockholm over the shutdown of a Swedish cosmetics firm in Tehran and the arrest of five of its staff, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Ministry officials also raised the case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two sentenced to death by stoning by an Iranian court, when it called in ambassador Rasoul Eslami Tuesday, she said.

"We met him yesterday and we raised both the Oriflame affair and also the question of Sakineh, the woman threatened with stoning," foreign ministry spokeswoman Cecilia Julin told AFP.

Iranian authorities on Sunday closed the Tehran office of Oriflame, a Swedish direct-sales cosmetics company, and arrested five of its employees amid reported allegations in Iran that it was running a pyramid scheme and was possibly backed by a spy agency.

One of those detained is a dual Swedish-Iranian national, Julin said.

She said the matter was being dealt with by Sweden's ambassador in Tehran, who "is in contact with the Iranian foreign ministry and other authorities."

Oriflame said Monday it had received no explanations from Iranian authorities about the closure and arrests but believed they may be linked to its business model.

"Our business model is to sell cosmetics and give 40,000 Iranians, mainly women, a possibility to earn money through direct sales," the company's chief financial officer Gabriel Bennet told AFP, adding any reference to a pyramid scheme was "ridiculous".

Iran's ILNA news agency meanwhile quoted Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi Wednesday as accusing companies like Oriflame of being backed by spy agencies.

"These companies operate with outside support and are not engaged in economic activities. They are under the guidance of spy agencies," he said.

Oriflame did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the allegations.

The case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, sentenced to death by stoning by an Iranian court, has been criticised by Western nations and human rights groups amid warnings that her execution is imminent.

Iranian officials maintain she was handed the stoning sentence for adultery and for being an accomplice in her husband's murder.