Iran
IraniStock

Iran on Saturday executed Swedish-Iranian dissident Habib Chaab for "terrorism", AFP reported, citing Iran’s judiciary.

"The death sentence for Habib Chaab... nicknamed Habib Asyud, the head of Harakat al-Nidal terrorist group... was executed today, Saturday morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.

Chaab had been held in Iran since October 2020 after he vanished during a visit to Turkey and was put on trial in Tehran.

He was convicted of "corruption on earth" for heading a rebel group and had been sentenced to death on December 6. In March, the supreme court of Iran upheld the death sentence handed down to him.

Stockholm has denounced the decision as "inhumane".

According to Mizan Online, Chaab led Harakat al-Nidal, or the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, which Iran considers a "terrorist group" and blames for orchestrating attacks in southwestern Khuzestan.

Iranian authorities accused Chaab of staging attacks since 2005 "under the protection of two spy services, including the Mossad and Sapo" — Israeli and Swedish agencies, respectively.

The Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz claimed responsibility for a 2018 attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz that killed 24 people.

Then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the US and the Gulf states of responsibility for the Ahvaz attack.

Three dual nationals — including Chaab — have been sentenced to death or executed over security-related charges since the start of the year, according to the judiciary.

Iran regularly claims to have captured individuals who are accused of spying for Israel, and sometimes also for the US.

In late December, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry claimed it identified and arrested members of four teams of operatives linked to the Israeli Mossad.

In October, Iran said it arrested a person “spying for the Zionist regime” in the central city of Kerman by the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence services.