Germany said Wednesday it was expelling two Iranian diplomats over the death sentence handed down in Iran against one of its nationals.
Iranian authorities announced on Tuesday that Jamshid Sharmahd, a 67-year-old Iranian-German citizen residing in the United States, has been sentenced to death for terrorist activities.
Iran says Sharmahd is the leader of the armed wing of a group advocating the restoration of the monarchy that was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but his family say he was only the opposition group’s spokesman and deny that he was involved in any attacks.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she summoned the Iranian chargé d’affaires to Berlin and informed him that “we will not accept this massive violation of the rights of a German citizen”.
GERMANY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH IRAN UNDER ATTACK AS A WEAK LINK AGAINST THE REGIME
“As a result, the German government declared two members of the Iranian embassy as unwanted persons and asked them to leave Germany at short notice,” he said. “We demand that Iran lift the death sentence against Jamshid Sharmahd and allow him to present a fair appeal in line with the rule of law.”
Baerbock said Sharmahd, who lives in Glendora, California, had “not even the beginning of a due process” and had been repeatedly denied consular access and access to trial. He also claimed that he had been arrested “under highly questionable circumstances,” without elaborating.
Iranian diplomat Jamshid Sharmahd attends his trial at the Revolutionary Court, in Tehran, Iran, February 6, 2022. Sharmahd, accused of orchestrating a 2008 deadly mosque bombing, was sentenced to death in Iran. (Koosha Mahshid Falahi/Mizan News Agency via AP)
Sharmahd’s family accuses Iranian intelligence of kidnapping him from Dubai in 2020.
IRAN EXECUTE 2 MORE MEN DETAINED Amid NATIONAL PROTESTS
The official website of Iran’s judiciary says Sharmahd has been convicted of plotting terrorist activities. He was tried in a revolutionary court, where proceedings take place behind closed doors and where rights groups say defendants are unable to choose their own lawyers or see the evidence against them.
The death sentence — which can be appealed — comes against the backdrop of months of anti-government protests in Iran sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman who was arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code.
Protesters have called for the overthrow of the clerics in power in the country. Monarchists based outside Iran support the protests, as do other groups and individuals with different ideologies.
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Security forces attacked protesters with live ammunition, bird shots and batons, human rights groups say. At least 530 protesters have been killed and nearly 20,000 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that monitors the unrest.
Iranian authorities have blamed the protests on hostile foreign powers, without providing evidence, and have not released official figures for those killed or arrested.
Iran has executed four men accused of protest-related violence and activists say at least 16 others have been sentenced to death.
