Iran today executed the dissident with dual Swedish and Iranian nationality Habib Chaab, sentenced to death for “terrorism”, the judiciary announced, after accusing him of leading an Arab separatist group in the west of the country.
“The capital sentence for Habib Chaab (…), head of the terrorist group Harakat al Nidal, was executed today,” published the official Iranian justice website, Mizan Online, and specified that the man was hanged.
The court upheld his death sentence on March 12 for “corruption on Earth, management and direction of a rebel group, and conception and execution of numerous terrorist operations,” the AFP news agency reported.
Chaab was accused of being the leader of the Arab separatist group Harakat al Nidal, which is seeking independence for the oil-rich southern province of Khuzestan.
According to Tehran, the Harakat al Nidal group is responsible for the death of 247 people in “terrorist attacks” in the country and has the support of the secret services of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Sweden.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom condemned the execution.
“The death penalty is an inhuman and irreversible punishment, and Sweden, like the rest of the European Union (EU), condemns its application in all circumstances,” the minister, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the community bloc, said on Twitter.
The foreign minister said Stockholm had contacted Tehran “and asked that the sentence” to death not be carried out.
Sweden had initiated procedures at the time to offer him consular assistance, but was unable to do so because Iran does not recognize dual nationality.
The NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) urged the “international community to react strongly to this execution” on Twitter, calling Chaab’s trial “unfair”.
Iran is the second country that executes the most people in the world, behind China, according to human rights organizations, which put the number of hangings at 582 in 2022.
Chaab, in his 50s according to the Iranian media and nicknamed Habib Asyud, was considered the head of the group Harakat al Nidal or ASMLA (Arab Movement to Fight for the Liberation of Ahvaz), classified as a “terrorist” movement by the Islamic Republic.
He disappeared in October 2020 after having traveled to Istanbul and reappeared a month later imprisoned in Iran.
In November 2020, Iranian television broadcast a video of Habib Chaab accusing himself of a deadly attack in September 2018 in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, and of working for Saudi intelligence services.
The oil-rich province of Khuzestan has a large Arab minority that is considered forgotten by the authorities.
In recent months, Tehran has caused outrage in European countries by executing a British passport holder and sentencing a German citizen to death.
At least 16 people with Western passports are jailed in Iran, most with dual nationality.
Source: Ambito
