Iranian diplomats expelled from Germany following death sentence on Jamshid Sharmahd

 

BERLIN – Germany expels two Iranian diplomats after activist’s death sentence. Two Iranian diplomats have been expelled by Germany after a dual national was sentenced to death.

German-Iranian activist Jamshid Sharmahd was condemned on Tuesday and Germany’s Foreign Office responded swiftly on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed the expulsions and said in a statement that Germany “cannot accept the massive human rights abuse of a German citizen.”

She has also summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Iranian embassy in Berlin. A revolutionary court in Tehran ruled that the 67-year-old Sharmahd was responsible for a terrorist attack, the government-backed Iranian justice portal Mizan reported. The court also charged him with cooperating with foreign intelligence services.

Death sentences in Iran are usually carried out by hanging. The verdict can be appealed to the Supreme Court. The activist was arrested by Iranian intelligence in Dubai in 2020 and brought to Iran. He has been detained in Tehran ever since.

Previously, Sharmahd lived in the United States for years. His family and human rights groups reject the accusations against him.

Sharmahd was involved in the exile opposition group Tondar, or Thunder, in the US, which campaigns for the return of Iran’s monarchy.

Iran’s judiciary says the organization carried out a terror attack in 2008 in a mosque in the city of Shiraz, which left several people dead. Three men have already been executed in relation to the attack.

Baerbock added: “We call on Iran to overturn the death sentence on Jamshid Sharmahd and allow him a fair and constitutionally mandated appeals process.”