The execution of Jamshid Sharmahd, 69, a German-Iranian national, outrages people in Germany and internationally. He reportedly was executed on October 28 after spending years in prison. An action now condemned by human rights advocates worldwide was carried out in the first days of the month.
According to family members, Sharmahd-a, a German citizen of Iranian descent and a resident of the was detained by Iranian security in 2020 while he was in transit through the UAE. He was accused of involvement in an April 12, 2008, attack on the Seyyed Al Shohada mosque in Shiraz, Iran, which killed at least 14 people and injured about 300. In February this year, he was sentenced to death.
Gazelle Sharmahd, daughter of Jamshid, has been calling for proof that her father was executed and accountability by the Iranian government over how he was treated. On X, formerly Twitter, she wrote she would be willing to cooperate with the German and U.S. governments over the case and would look at proof that he is dead. She, however, insisted that if confirmed, his body should be returned, adding: “severe punishment for the Islamic regime murderers.”.
It is for this reason that Germany has denounced Sharmahd’s apparent execution as a “scandal” and vowed “serious consequences” for the Iranian regime. “The case shows, in particular, the inhumane attitude of the Tehran government, which is using the death penalty in its own country and against foreigners,” said the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. “The execution underlines the fact that nobody is safe from this Iranian government after the takeover by President Masoud Pezeshkian in July.”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized the execution, too, because Sharmahd was not granted a fair chance to prove his case in trial. Gazelle Sharmahd was furious with the German and U.S. governments for “abandoning” her father during negotiations and not doing enough regarding the family’s grievances.
