11 August 2023 :

(August 8, 2023) - Germany Intensifies Efforts To Release Death Row Prisoner In Iran.
The case of Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen, who was sentenced to death by Iran's regime, has become a "top priority" for the German Foreign Ministry.
In a statement to Iran International, a spokesperson for the ministry affirmed their active campaign to secure Sharmahd's release.
"The case of Jamshid Sharmahd is our top priority," the spokesperson stated, underscoring the significance of the matter. "We are actively campaigning for Sharmahd with the utmost effort at a high level, through all available channels and at every opportunity. We are making it clear to the Iranian side that the execution of the death sentence would have serious consequences. Preventing the enforcement of the decision is of the utmost importance to us."
However, the German Foreign Ministry has refrained from disclosing whether diplomatic relations with Tehran or its substantial export business with Iran, amounting to over $1.2 billion, would be severed as part of efforts to secure Sharmahd's release.
Sharmahd was sentenced to death in April by Iran's judiciary on charges of alleged terrorism. He was accused of leading the pro-monarchist group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, believed to be responsible for a fatal 2008 bombing and plotting additional attacks within the country. The group, operating from Los Angeles, advocates for the restoration of Iran's monarchy and operates opposition media platforms.
His case is emblematic of what human rights organizations term "hostage diplomacy," where Western prisoners are held on charges of espionage or alleged crimes. Iran maintains that the prisoners are being held for legitimate reasons, despite international concerns and objections. On the Sharmahd case see also HoC 04/08/2020, 01/11/2020, 27/04/2021, 20/02/2023, 22/02/2023, 12/03/2023, 26/04/2023, 06/ 05/2023, 01/07/2023.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202308087646

09 July 2023 :

(July 1, 2023) - German Party Leader Refused Visit To Condemned German-Iranian Citizen
The leader of Germany's Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, said on July 1 that he has been told he cannot visit the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death. "After several months of processing, my application to enter Iran was rejected. The regime denies me an insight into the prison conditions of the German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd," Merz wrote on Twitter. Iran's Supreme Court confirmed the controversial death sentence against the journalist at the end of April. In February, a revolutionary court found Sharmahd responsible for an alleged terrorist attack. He has denied the charges and his daughter said he has been tortured in prison.
On the Sharmad case see also HoC 04/08/2020, 20/02/2023, 22/02/2023 e 26/04/2023.

https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-executes-rapists-lured-women-fake-clinic/32488891.html

28 April 2023 :

(April 26, 2023) - The Islamic Republic’s Judiciary Spokesperson announced the confirmation of 68-year-old German-Iranian citizen, Jamshid Sharmahd’s death sentence by the Supreme Court. He was kidnapped by Islamic Republic agents on a layover in Dubai in 2020.
Iran Human Rights calls on the international community to stop Jamshid Sharmahd’s execution by taking urgent and appropriate action, and not to remain silent against the Islamic Republic’s hostage diplomacy.
Iran Human Rights Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Jamshid Sharmahd is at serious risk of execution and such a crime can only be stopped by raising the cost of his execution through decisive action by the international community, especially the European Union.”
Speaking at a press conference on April 26, the Islamic Republic’s Judiciary Spokesperson, Masoud Setayeshi stated that Jamshid Sharmahd’s death sentence had been upheld by the Supreme Court and that “implementation measures will be taken accordingly.”
Furthermore, the Supreme Court’s public relations announced that “Jamshid Sharmahd’s case was upheld by the Supreme Court based on Article 469(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
Jamshid Sharmahd is a German-Iranian dissident activist who was kidnapped on a layover in Dubai when flying to the United States, his country of residence, from India. He last spoke to his wife on 28 July 2020. On 1 August, Minister of Intelligence and Security Mahmoud Alavi announced on state television that Jamshid Sharmahd, the head of Tondar group, had been arrested “following a complex operation” and aired a video of him stating his name while blindfolded with a black cloth. Charges related to a 2010 Mosque bombing, for which three men had already been executed, were brought against him.
Tondar was the media group for “Kindgom Assembly of Iran” which is considered a dissident political group against the Islamic Republic. The Ministry of Intelligence has labelled the group a terrorist organisation.
After being held in pre-trial detention for over a year and a half, his first hearing was held on 6 February 2022. Presided by Judge Salavati, a “hanging judge” on the US sanctions list, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court held multiple hearings on the accusations of “efsad- fil-arz by planning and directing terrorist acts”, including the 2010 bombing. He was sentenced to death today. Jamshid has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest and denied legal representation, due process and the right to a fair trial. Jamshid was sentenced to death on 21 February 2023.
Kidnapping dissidents from neighbouring countries is becoming common practice. Iran Human Rights previously warned that “Failure by the international community to respond adequately to these unlawful acts will lead to its normalisation.”
Arresting political dissidents outside of Iran is not unprecedented. Ruhollah Zam, the director of Amad News Telegram channel, was arrested in Iraq in October 2019 and transported to Iran. He was executed on 12 December 2020. Iranian-Swedish dissident, Habib Chaab was also kidnapped from Turkey in October 2020 and tried for corruption charges. He’s currently awaiting sentencing.
Germany has condemned the sentence as "unacceptable" and declared two staff members at Iran's embassy in Berlin personae non gratae, ordering them to leave the country.
Tehran, in turn, expelled 2 German diplomats last month.
At least 16 Western passport-holders, including 6 French, are being held in Iran on various charges. Most hold dual nationality, which Iran does not recognise.
3 dual nationals including Sharmahd have been sentenced to death or executed over security-related charges since the start of the year, according to the judiciary.
The execution in January of Alireza Akbari, a former Iranian official with British citizenship convicted of espionage, has provoked international outcry.
On the Sharmahd case see also HoC 04/08/2020, 01/11/2020, 27/04/2021, 20, 22 and 23/02/2023.

https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5830/  
https://www.en-hrana.org/iranian-supreme-court-upholds-jamshid-sharmahds-death-sentence/
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2023/04/iran-upholds-german-dual-nationals-death-sentence

23 February 2023 :

(February 22, 2023) - Germany on Wednesday said it was expelling two diplomats from the Iranian embassy in Berlin over the death sentence an Iranian court handed down against an Iranian-German national.
After the death penalty verdict Tuesday against Jamshid Sharmahd, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement Berlin was "declaring two Iranian embassy staff members to be persona non grata" and "ordering them to leave Germany immediately".
Baerbock said she had summoned Iran's charge d'affaires over the case of Sharmahd, who supporters say was abducted abroad and forcibly returned to Iran for a show trial.
"We call on Iran to reverse the death penalty for Jamshid Sharmahd and to make it possible for him to have a fair appeal based on the rule of law," she said.
The Tehran Revolutionary Court convicted Sharmahd, 67, in connection with the deadly bombing of a mosque in 2008, the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported.
Iranian authorities announced in August 2020 that Sharmahd, who is also a German national and a US resident, was arrested in what they described as a "complex operation" without specifying how, where or when he was seized.
His family say that he was abducted by the Iranian security services while in transit in Dubai and then brought under duress to the Islamic republic.
Baerbock had condemned the ruling on Tuesday as "absolutely unacceptable" and promised a "strong reaction" to the decision, resulting in Wednesday's expulsion.
"Not only is the death penalty cruel, inhuman and degrading, but Jamshid Sharmahd has never had anything approaching a fair trial," Baerbock said.
The German foreign minister has been at the forefront of Western voices condemning Tehran's bloody crackdown on demonstrations and the executions of anti-government protesters. Hands Off Cain yesterday published the news that Minister Baerbock was against the Iranian body of the "Guardians of the Revolution" (IRGC) being included in the list of terrorist groups of the European Community.
Sharmahd is accused by Iran of leading the Tondar group which aims to topple the Islamic republic and is outlawed as a terrorist organisation by Iran.
Mizan said Sharmahd planned to commit 23 "terrorist" acts, of which he succeeded in five, including the bombing of a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz on April 12, 2008, which killed 14 people and wounded 300 others.
Prosecutors had also accused Sharmahd of having established contact with "FBI and CIA officers" and of having "attempted to contact Israeli Mossad agents".
In 2009, Iran convicted and hanged three men for the Shiraz bombing, claiming they had links to the monarchist group and had taken their orders from "an Iranian CIA agent" based in the US in an attempt to assassinate a senior official in Iran.
Sharmahd's family have ridiculed the charges.
"All of the charges are fabricated charges. They are scapegoating my dad who is innocent," his daughter Gazelle told AFP when his trial got underway last year.
The family says Sharmahd, a software designer, became involved with Tondar, also known as Kingdom Assembly of Iran and designed their website.
"They kidnapped Jamshid Sharmahd and now they've sentenced him to death after a sham trial," said the head of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam.
"Basically the Islamic republic is threatening to kill a hostage," he added.

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230222-germany-expels-two-iranian-diplomats-over-dual-national-s-death-sentence

21 February 2023 :

(20/02/2023) - German Foreign Minister Says No Legal Grounds To Declare Iran's Revolutionary Guards A Terrorist Entity
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said that German experts have found no legal grounds to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, echoing remarks made last month by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Baerbock told reporters following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on February 20 that "as of now, we don't have legal grounds in the EU to list the Revolutionary Guards as terrorist organization." The European Parliament and others have called on the EU to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity, blaming it for the repression of domestic protests.

https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-revolutionary-guards-germany-terrrorist-legal-grounds/32280078.html

23 February 2023 :

(February 20, 2023) - Jamshid Sharmahd sentenced to death
Jamshid Sharmahd, a 67-year-old Iranian-German dissident kidnapped from the UAE by Islamic Republic agents in July 2020, has been sentenced to death for corruption charges without due process or a fair trial.
Mizan New Agency, which is affiliated with the regime judiciary, announced Monday that Sharmahd has been sentenced to death.
Sharmahd, who is also a US resident, is accused by Tehran of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing and planning other attacks in the country.
In the bombing on a mosque in Shiraz 14 people were killed and 200 more were wounded, but Sharmahd and his family vehemently deny the accusation.
"His verdict can still be appealed in the supreme court," the agency added.
Sharmahd, the director of Tondar opposition group, has been held in solitary confinement for many days and he was denied an independent attorney and fair legal procedures.
The news of Sharmahd’s kidnapping in Dubai and his transfer to Tehran by Islamic Republic agents was first released in August 2020.
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.
The death sentence for Sharmahd comes as Iranian foreign ministry on Tuesday confirmed indirect talks with the United States over prisoner exchange through intermediaries.
The Islamic Republic is holding several Western prisoners in what human rights organizations have dubbed hostage diplomacy.
Strongly condemning the death sentence, Iran Human Rights also criticises the international community’s relative silence on his abduction, torture and trial by the unlawful Revolutionary Court.
Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “Kidnapping and threatening to kill Jamshid Sharmahd based on an unlawful sentence is the Islamic Republic’s attempt to blackmail the European Union with the aim of easing the political pressure. Germany and the European community must react decisively to this terrorist act."
“Any flexibility shown against the Islamic Republic’s terrorism will further endanger the life of Sharmahd and other dual-nationals held hostage by the Islamic Republic,” he added.
Kidnapping dissidents from neighbouring countries is becoming common practice. Iran Human Rights previously warned that “Failure by the international community to respond adequately to these unlawful acts will lead to its normalisation.”
Reiterating that there are no fair trial standards in the Islamic Republic and that the interrogation process is based on torture-tainted confessions, Iran Human Rights calls on the international community to intervene to save Jamshid Sharmahd’s life and prevent further abduction of dissidents.
Jamshid Sharmahd is a German-Iranian dissident activist who was kidnapped on a layover in Dubai when flying to the United States, his country of residence, from India. He last spoke to his wife on 28 July 2020. On 1 August, Minister of Intelligence and Security Mahmoud Alavi announced on state television that Jamshid Sharmahd had been arrested “following a complex operation” and aired a video of him stating his name while blindfolded with a black cloth. Charges related to a 2010 Mosque bombing, for which three men had already been executed, were brought against him.
After being held in pre-trial detention for over a year and a half, his first hearing was held on 6 February 2022. Presided by Judge Salavati, a “hanging judge” on the US sanctions list, Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court held multiple hearings on the accusations of “efsad- fil-arz by planning and directing terrorist acts”, including the 2010 bombing. He was sentenced to death today. Jamshid has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest and denied legal representation, due process and the right to a fair trial.
Kidnapping dissidents from neighbouring countries is becoming common practice. Iran Human Rights previously warned that “Failure by the international community to respond adequately to these unlawful acts will lead to its normalisation.”
Arresting political dissidents outside of Iran is not unprecedented. Ruhollah Zam, the director of Amad News Telegram channel, was arrested in Iraq in October 2019 and transported to Iran. He was executed on 12 December 2020. Iranian-Swedish dissident, Habib Chaab was also kidnapped from Turkey in October 2020 and tried for corruption charges. He’s currently awaiting sentencing.
On Sharmahd’s case see also HoC August 4, 2020, November 1, 2020, December 12, 2020, April 27, 2021.

https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5738/
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202302211532
https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-jamshid-sharmahd-death-sentence/32281362.html

10 January 2023 :

Iranian Arrested In Germany On Suspicion Of Planning Terrorist Attack
Anti-terrorist agents in Germany have detained a 32-year-old Iranian man who is accused of planning an Islamist-motivated attack using chemicals.
The DPA news agency reported Sunday that the man along with another one has been arrested in Castrop-Rauxel in Germany's north-western Ruhr area.
They raided the man's Castrop-Rauxel residence, in the Ruhr region, but prosecutors said no poison was found.
The suspect's brother was also arrested and the pair remain in custody.
While they did not find poison, police did seize electronic devices from the residence.
A Düsseldorf senior public prosecutor said the tip-off about the man came from a friendly foreign intelligence service.
Police say he is suspected of having obtained the toxins cyanide and ricin which are highly toxic and listed as biological weapons by Germany.
"The accused is suspected of having prepared a serious act of violence that is dangerous to the state," investigators said. "Evidence has been secured and is being evaluated," added DPA.
It has not yet been decided whether the 32-year-old will be brought before a court, but police said, it may carry a prison sentence of between six months to 10 years.
Tabloid newspaper Bild reported that German authorities had been watching the men for days, after receiving a warning from a "friendly intelligence agency."
According to local media, the raids were carried out by agents wearing protective suits, due to the chemical hazard.
Dpa cited unnamed German security official saying there was no indication the suspect had acted on behalf of the Iranian state, but rather that he allegedly supported a Sunni extremist group. Sunnis are a religious minority in Iran.
Germany has been targeted in recent years by several Islamist attacks. In 2016 a truck attack on Christmas markets in Berlin killed 12 people and left dozens injured.
Five years ago, German police arrested a Tunisian man and his wife on suspicion of planning to carry out a ricin attack in the name of the Islamic State group. They were later found guilty and sentenced to 10 and eight years' imprisonment, respectively.
Even small amounts of ricin, which is produced from the seeds of castor oil plants, can kill an adult if eaten, injected or inhaled.
German domestic intelligence services say the number of supporters of Islamist causes is diminishing, citing the "military breakup" of the ISIS group.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202301087936
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64201772
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/08/1147737294/an-iranian-man-has-been-held-in-germany-over-a-suspected-chemical-attack