Iran executed a Swedish-Iranian dissident convicted of leading an Arab separatist group accused of attacks, including one on a military parade in 2018 that killed 25 people.
Habib Farajollah Chaab was sentenced to death for being “corrupt on earth”, a capital offence under Iran’s strict interpretation of Islamic law. State broadcaster IRIB reported his execution on Saturday. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom reacted with “dismay” to Chaab’s execution, saying his government had pleaded with Iran not to carry it out.
Habib was illegally abducted in Istanbul through Saberin Saidi that lured him to a romantic trip at which point he was smuggled into Iran. He was not given a fair trial.
In March, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the Swedish-Iranian dissident’s death sentence for alleged “terrorist” activities related to the Arab separatist group known as the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz, which seeks a separate state in the oil-rich Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.
He was found guilty of plotting and carrying out “numerous bombings and terrorist operations”.
Iran has had tense relations with its ethnic minorities, which include Arabs, Kurds, Azeris and Baluch, and has accused them of aligning with neighbouring countries. Arabs and other minorities have long complained of facing discrimination in Iran, an accusation Tehran denies.
Iranian authorities had accused Chaab of staging attacks since 2005 “under the protection of two spy services, including the Mossad and Sapo” — the Israeli and Swedish agencies, respectively.
Source Al Jazeera