The rotating presidency of the European Union, represented by Sweden, condemns the execution of the Iranian-Swedish dissident Habib Chaab which took place in Iran. “The death penalty is an inhuman and irreversible punishment and Sweden, together with the rest of the EU, condemns its application under any circumstances,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom wrote in a tweet.
According to the Tehran judiciary, Habib Chaabm nicknamed Habib Asyud, was the head of the Arab separatist group Harakat al-Nidal and is responsible for a series of attacks, including one against a military parade that caused 25 deaths in the south of the country in 2018. The terrorist group, according to the Iranian authorities, is fighting for the independence of the southern province of Khuzestan, rich in oil. Harakat al Nidal “is responsible for the deaths of 247 people in terrorist attacks and has the support of the secret services of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Sweden”.
At the head of this group, Chaab has allegedly organized several attacks since 2005, including the attack in the city of Ahvaz on September 22, 2018, during a military parade organized on the occasion of the 38th anniversary of the start of the war between Iraq and Iran (1980-88 ). Four Kalashnikov-wielding extremists opened fire from behind the authorities’ rostrum, killing 25 soldiers and civilians, including women and children, and wounding 60 others. Chaab was arrested in 2020 after he was reported missing in Turkey.
His trial began in late 2022 and his death sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court in March this year. Chaab is the second dual national to be executed in Iran in 2023. In January, the death sentence by hanging of the British-Iranian and former deputy defense minister, Alireza Akbari, was carried out. Akbari, according to Tehran, was executed for allegedly spying for the British intelligence agency in exchange for money. In April, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd for his alleged participation in various attacks in the country.
Sharmahd, 68, was sentenced to death on February 21 on charges of leading a terrorist group that planned 23 attacks on Iranian soil, of which five were reportedly carried out. Iran is one of the countries in the world with the highest number of executions: in 2021 there were 246.