Iran Executes Swedish-Iranian Dissident For Leading Arab Separatist Group

Iran has executed Habib Farajollah Chaab, a Swedish-Iranian dissident who was convicted of leading an Arab separatist group that was accused of carrying out attacks, including one on a military parade in 2018 that killed 25 people.

According to Iran's strict interpretation of Islamic law, Habib was sentenced to death for being "corrupt on earth," which is a capital offense.

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan reported that Habib's execution took place on Saturday.

Habib was also known as Habib Asyud, the head of Harakat al-Nidal terrorist group.

Iran has 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.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom has expressed "dismay" at Habib's execution and stated that his government had pleaded with Iran not to carry out the death penalty.

Iran executes more people yearly than any other nation except China, according to rights groups such as Amnesty International.

In January, Alireza Akbari, a former Iranian official with UK citizenship who had been convicted of espionage, was executed.

In April, Iran's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, 67, over his connection with a deadly mosque bombing in 2008.