Germany has declared the closure of all three Iranian consulates on its soil in response to the execution of a German-Iranian national. It said the Embassy in Berlin would still remain operational, the German Foreign Ministry declared on Thursday.
During an address in New York, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated, “Our diplomatic relations are already more than at a low point.”
In response, Germany recalled its ambassador to Iran and summoned the Iranian charge d’affaires, formally protesting the decision. Iranian state media reported that Sharmahd was convicted of involvement in terrorist attacks and executed.
Baerbock condemned Iran for politicizing hostage situations and asserted the regime used Germany’s support for Israel over the escalating conflict in the Middle East as justification for the execution of Sharmahd. “Further, Germans are also being detained on unjust grounds. We are deeply committed to their cause, and we continue day and night to work for their release,” she said.
While the rights organization HAWAR welcomed the closure of the consulates, it meanwhile demanded that the German government ramp up the pressure to achieve the release of Nahid Taghavi, a 70-year-old German citizen who has been in detention in Iran since October 2020.
“The Federal Government’s lack of planning in dealing with the hostage diplomacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran must finally come to an end,” declared the organization.
She has also called on the European Union to consider Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.
