Has Iran nabbed terrorist ringleader behind 2018 Ahvaz attack?

Unconfirmed media reports suggest the former ringleader of Al-Ahwaziya terrorist group, a Saudi-sponsored outfit that carried out the 2018 deadly terrorist attack in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, has been arrested in Turkey and handed over to Iran.

According to Press TV, a spokesperson for the terrorist group claims Habib Chaab, also known as Habib Eseywed, a former leader and the current vice-president of the Al-Ahwaziya group, has been detained in Turkey and handed over to Iranian intelligence forces on Friday evening.

According to a statement released by the terrorist group, a Persian Gulf littoral state has contributed to the arrest of Chaab.

The statement, quoted by the Saudi news agency Al Arabiya, claims the Iranian security forces have “lured” Chaab into visiting Turkey.

The terrorist group had claimed responsibility for the September 2018 terrorist attack on a military parade in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran, which martyred 25 and injured 60 others.

Shortly after the attack, the London-based "Iran International" television channel funded by Saudi Arabia allowed al-Ahwaziya's spokesman to go live on air to defend the terrorist action.

No Iranian or Turkish official has confirmed the reports of Chaab’s arrest, but in recent years, Iranian security forces have managed to detain a number of counterrevolutionary and terrorist elements in neighboring countries and take them to Iran.

In August, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced it has arrested Jamshid Sharmahd, the ringleader of an anti-Iran terrorist group based in the United States.

Sharmahd directed "armed operations and acts of sabotage" in Iran from the US, according to the Intelligence Ministry.

Following a complicated operation, the ringleader of the group, named Tondar (Thunder), was arrested and he is "now in the powerful hands" of Iranian security forces, it said at the time.

ME