EU foreign policy chief condemns execution of Swedish-Iranian national

GENEVA

The EU foreign policy chief on Monday said that in a conversation with the Iranian foreign minister, he denounced the execution of a Swedish-Iranian national.

"In call with Iranian Foreign Minister (Hossein Amir) Abdollahian, I strongly condemned execution of Swedish-Iranian national Habib Chaab and asked Iran not to execute German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd," Josep Borrell said on Twitter.

They also discussed Iran and International Atomic Energy Agency cooperation, "which gained momentum recently," he added.

"I stressed that Iran must continue this, end support to Russia’s war against UA (Ukraine), and stop instrumentalising EU nationals," he added.

Iran on Saturday executed a Swedish-Iranian dual national accused of spearheading a separatist group blamed by Tehran for a string of attacks in the country.

The judiciary’s Mizan News said Habib Farajullah Chaab, leader of the Harakat al-Nidal group, was executed on Saturday, convicted of being the “mastermind” of a 2018 attack that killed 25 people in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran.

On Sept. 22, 2018, militants masquerading as soldiers opened fire on an annual military parade in Ahvaz, capital of the Khuzestan province.

Chaab, who was arrested in November 2020 and brought to Iran from abroad, was given the death penalty on charges of “corruption on earth,” which carries the maximum legal punishment under Iranian law.

The sentence against him was upheld by Iran’s apex court in March after multiple court hearings linking him to Swedish, Israeli, and the US intelligence agencies.