Iran: Execution of German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd – German politicians express horror
The German-Iranian dual national Jamshid Sharmahd has been executed in Iran. A revolutionary court had convicted him of terrorism charges in spring 2023.
His involvement in the Iranian exile opposition group “Tondar” (Thunder) is likely to be the reason for this. The Iranian government accuses the monarchist organization of being responsible for an attack in the megacity of Shiraz in 2008 that claimed several lives.
According to Islamic law, Sharmahd was convicted of “corruption on earth”. His family and human rights activists vehemently rejected the accusations and fought for his salvation until the very end. His daughter Gazelle, who lives in the USA, repeatedly accused the Foreign Office of not doing enough for her father.
Sharmahd was born in the Iranian capital Tehran, grew up in Germany and most recently lived in the USA. In the summer of 2020, he was abducted under mysterious circumstances during a trip from Dubai to Iran; several reports speak of an abduction by the Iranian secret service.
Critics described the trial against him as unfair. Sharmahd was not allowed to choose his own lawyer and his whereabouts remained unknown until the end. Confessions that were broadcast on state television may have been coerced under torture.
The execution of the death sentence is likely to lead to new tensions in diplomatic relations between Tehran and Berlin. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green Party strongly condemns the execution, speaks of an “inhuman regime” and announces “serious consequences”. The case had been worked on every day in Berlin. A high-ranking team had been sent to Iran several times.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) calls Sharmahd’s execution a “scandal”. CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who had taken on a political godparenthood for Jamshid Sharmahd, also sharply criticized the execution and demanded that the German government expel the Iranian ambassador.
Sources:
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/asien/iran-hinrichtung-122.html
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/asien/iran-hinrichtung-deutschland-100.html