Germany scrambles to stop Iran from executing dual citizen | CPT PPP Coverage

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PARIS — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has condemned the decision by Iran’s top court to uphold the death sentence of German-Iranian dual national Jamshid Sharmahd, convicted of involvement in a 2008 deadly bomb attack at a mosque in Shiraz.

“The confirmation of death sentence against Jamshid Sharmahd is unacceptable,” Baerbock said in a statement Wednesday.

“Sharmahd never benefited from even a semblance of a fair trial. We call on Iran to immediately reverse this arbitrary sentence,” she added noting that Germany’s ambassador to Iran, Hans-Udo Muzel, is cutting a trip short to return to Iran. “[He] is on his way back to Tehran to intervene with the Iranian authorities,” tweeted the German foreign minister.

Bundestag member Norbert Rottgen, who has been calling for Sharmahd’s release, warned, “His life is in acute danger. The kidnapping and political hostage-taking of Jamshid Sharmahd show how deeply inhumane is this regime.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Massoud Setayeshi confirmed that the death sentence, handed down in February 2023, has been upheld by the country’s supreme court.

Sharmahd, 68, also holds US residency. While living in Los Angeles, he engaged with the pro-monarchic Tondar group, serving as spokesperson and participating in one of its radio broadcasts. In 2020, during a stopover in Dubai, Sharmahd was detained by Iranian agents and brought by force to Tehran to stand trial. A court in Tehran found him guilty of being “the ringleader of the terrorist group Tondar who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America.” The conviction referred to the deadly 2008 Shiraz bombing, in which 14 people died and 200 were injured, as well as other attacks in Iran.

The family of Sharmahd claims he was framed and did not receive a fair trial. They say that he had never participated in the planning of any violent action. His daughter Gazelle has been leading a public campaign for his release.

At least 16 European nationals, the majority of them dual Iranian citizens and including six French people, are being held in Iran on various charges. Apart from Sharmahd, two other dual nationals have been sentenced to death since the beginning of the year. Alireza Akbari, a former Iranian official with British citizenship, was sentenced to death and executed last January.

In parallel, Setayeshi said on Wednesday that Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, imprisoned in Belgium, will soon be released in a prisoner exchange deal. Assadi was sentenced in Belgium two years ago to 20 years in prison for plotting a 2018 terror attack in Paris. 

On March 4, Belgium’s supreme court validated a treaty, signed a year earlier between Tehran and Brussels, that should enable a prisoner swap with Iran. Via this deal, authorities in Brussels are hoping to liberate aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, sentenced last year by a court in Tehran to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes for espionage. Belgian daily Le Soir confirmed on Wednesday that Iranian authorities have indeed asked Belgium to transfer Assadi back to Tehran. The news comes a week after Belgian authorities sent a similar request to Iran for Vandecasteele.