Iran executes US resident, German citizen Sharmahd days after Israeli attack
Iran executed Jamshid Sharmahd, a 68-year-old software developer and California resident who also held German citizenship, the Judiciary's news agency said on Monday, two days after the biggest Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic in its history.
Sharmahd was abducted by Iranian agents during a visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2020 and forcibly taken to Iran. In February 2023, the Iranian judiciary sentenced him to death on charges of endangering national security.
Sharmahd was convicted of heading a pro-monarchist group named Tondar accused of a deadly bombing incident that occurred in 2008 at a religious center in Shiraz, killing 14 and injuring 215 more. The accusation, repeatedly denied by the political prisoner, was never substantiated by documented evidence.
The US green card holder's execution comes two days after the Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military sites. Iranian officials have accused the US of allowing Israel to use Iraq's airspace to carry out the attack, calling for Washington's accountability as "Israel's accomplice".
Reactions
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock issued a statement calling the execution a murder.
"I condemn in the strongest terms the murder of Jamshid Sharmahd by the Iranian regime... We made it unequivocally clear to Tehran that the execution of a German citizen would have severe consequences," she posted on X.
Abram Paley, US deputy special envoy for Iran called the execution abhorrent and condemned the country's rising rate of executions.
"Sharmahd should never have been imprisoned in the first place," Paley wrote on X. "His kidnapping and rendition, as well as sham trial and reports of torture, were reprehensible. We...stand with the international community in holding the regime accountable for its horrific abuses."
Iran conducted the most executions of any country in the world after China last year, Amnesty said in a report in May, adding that nearly 75% of all executions worldwide in 2023 outside China were in Iran.
The recent wave of executions brings the total number of hangings in Iran this year to more than 567, including 20 women, according to rights groups.
Earlier this month, HRNA reported that at least 811 people had been executed in Iran between 10 October 2023 and 8 October 2024, coinciding with the annual World Day Against the Death Penalty.
Call for international response
Kambiz Ghafouri, a Finland-based political analyst, believes the international community must take serious action against Tehran to prevent such cases from happening again.
"The Islamic Republic acts like an abusive, alcoholic, and addicted father who, whenever goes out and gets beaten up by someone stronger, returns home to beat up his stepchildren so they don’t become too bold. The Islamic Republic has acted exactly in this way," Ghafouri told Iran International.
"Experience has shown that dealing with a violent, criminal, alcoholic man requires a superior force from outside the family. The international community must severely punish the Islamic Republic; otherwise, we will face more instances like this," he added.
