Iranian-Swedish national Farajollah Cha'ab was executed by Tehran on Saturday more than two years after the separatist leader was arrested on charges of masterminding a 2018 attack that killed 25 people including soldiers.
Cha'ab, who led the 'Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz', was accused of orchestrating the attack in the southwestern city of Ahvaz in 2018. The Ahwaz Arab Liberation Movement, which has been active since 2005, is fighting for a separate state in Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan Province.
Iran Says Separatist Had Links to Sweden and Israel
The group claimed the 2018 attack that killed Iranian military personnel. Gunmen dressed in military uniforms carried out the attack, opening fire at an annual military parade in Ahvaz in September 2018. However, according to the Radio Free Asia, the Islamic State militants had also claimed responsibility of the attack.
Iran's judicial news agency Mizan said Cha'ab was executed by hanging. More significantly, Iran claimed the executed separatist had links to Swedish, Israelis and U.S. intelligence services. Iran says the group led by him is responsible for killing or wounding 450 people over the years.
However Iranian human rights activists have said Cha'ab made the confessions under duress. According to the activists, Cha'ab was kidnapped by Iranian intelligence officers in Turkey, and a third country was involved in the operation.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom condemned the execution. "The death penalty is an inhumane and irrevocable punishment, and Sweden, together with the rest of the (European Union), condemns its use under all circumstances," the minister said in a statement, according to IANS.
Finland and Norway also condemned the execution as did Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights." "This is an example of the Islamic Republic's state terrorism ...We expect that the EU and Swedish government show adequate reaction to the murder of their citizen. Killing a hostage must not be tolerated," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the group's director.
