German-Iranian sentenced to death in Tehran
February 21, 2023
German-Iranian dual citizen Jamshid Sharmahd has been sentenced to death in Tehran, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency reported on Tuesday.
Iranian authorities accused the 67-year-old of heading a pro-monarchist group that it says was responsible for a deadly terrorist attack at a mosque in Shiraz in 2008. He denies the allegations.
Sharmahd was officially charged with "corruption on Earth."
The verdict can be appealed at Iran's Supreme Court of Justice.
Who is Jamshid Sharmahd?
Sharmahd, who also holds US residency, is a software engineer who was arrested by Iranian authorities in 2020.
In a statement at the time, the intelligence ministry described him as "the ringleader of the terrorist Tondar group, who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America."
Tondar, also known as the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, is a group based in Los Angeles that aims to restore the Iranian monarchy that was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Authorities blame it for a 2008 bombing at a mosque in Shiraz that killed killed 14 people and wounded 215 others.
The group also runs pro-opposition media outlets from outside the country.
In January 2022, the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union political party in Germany, Fredrich Merz, announced he would take over Sharmahd's political sponsorship — an arrangement where a politician pledges to use their influence to advocate for a political prisoner overseas.
"I call on the German government to tell Iran clearly and unambiguously that this ruling must have consequences," Merz told DW. "If it is carried out, diplomatic relations with Iran must be downgraded to a mission with a charge d'affaires and the Iranian ambassador must be expelled from Germany."
Berlin condemns sentence
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the sentence was "absolutely unacceptable," calling the death penalty "cruel, inhuman and degrading."
Baerbock said that Sharmahd was not given a fair trial.
The foreign minister vowed a "strong reaction" to the sentence.
sdi, zc/nm (dpa, Reuters, AFP)