Berlin Recalls Envoy To Iran Over Execution Of German Citizen

Germany has recalled its ambassador to Iran over the reported execution of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd and summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires to voice Berlin’s protest against the killing, the German foreign office said on Tuesday.

“We have sent our strongest protest against the actions of the Iranian regime & reserve the right to take further action,” the foreign ministry said in a post on X.

Germany’s ambassador in Tehran demarched to the Iranian foreign minister and protested in the strongest possible terms the murder of Jamshid Sharmahd, the post said. It added that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock subsequently recalled the ambassador to Berlin for consultations.

Jamshid Sharmahd Executed

Iran executed Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd after he was convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks, Iranian state media said on Monday.

Sharmahd, who also holds U.S. residency, was sentenced to death in 2023 on charges of “corruption on earth”, a capital offence under Iran’s Islamic laws.

He was accused by Iran of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing and planning other attacks in the country.

His daughter Gazelle Sharmahd, also on X, demanded proof for his execution and called for the immediate return of her father.

“Jamshid Sharmahd was not even given the opportunity to defend himself in the trial against the charges levelled against him,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday on social platform X, calling the execution “a scandal”.

Restoring Iranian Monarchy?

Sharmahd’s arrest was announced in 2020 in an intelligence ministry statement that described him as “the ringleader of the terrorist Tondar group, who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America.”

Based in Los Angeles, the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar, says it seeks to restore the Iranian monarchy that was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic revolution. It runs pro-Iranian opposition radio and television stations abroad.

(with inputs from Reuters)