Iranian-Swedish dissident tried in Tehran for ‘corruption on earth’

The trial of Iranian-Swedish dissident Habib Chaab begins in Tehran, state television shows, with charges including terrorism and “spreading corruption on earth” punishable by the death sentence.

Chaab, in his late forties, has been held in Iran since late 2020 after he disappeared during a visit to Turkey. A month later he appeared on Iran’s state television, claiming responsibility for launching a deadly 2018 attack on a military parade and working with Saudi intelligence services.

“He is accused of spreading corruption on earth through the formation, management and leadership of a group called the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz and planning and carrying out terrorist operations and destroying public property,” the prosecutor’s representative says.

State television showed recorded footage of the session that ran for almost an hour, a rare occurrence in Iranian courts.