Germany to close Tehran's consulates over execution of dual national

Germany moved one step closer to severing ties with Iran on Thursday, ordering all Iranian consulates to be shut down in response to the execution of the German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd.

The move further mars the relationship between the Islamic Republic and Germany, Europe’s largest economy and Iran's biggest European trade partner. Iran's embassy in Berlin will remain open.

"Our diplomatic relations are already more than at a low point," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in New York after Berlin recalled its ambassador to Tehran a day earlier.

Baerbock urged Brussels to put Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the European Union's terror list.

Germany downgraded relations with Tehran in the 1990s following the assassination of Kurdish-Iranian dissidents in Berlin. Tensions eased a few years later following the election of reformist Mohammad Khatami, who embarked on a charm offensive to rebuild relations with the European Union.

The EU announced on Wednesday following Sharmahd's execution that it was considering "targeted and significant measures." It provided no further details.

In its statement, the EU condemned the execution of the German-Iranian national and expressed full solidarity with Germany. Similar remarks were made by European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on his X account on Tuesday.

Iran executed the 68-year-old dissident who was a software developer and California resident on Monday. He was abducted by Iranian agents during a visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2020 and forcibly taken to Iran. In February 2023, Iran's judiciary sentenced him to death on charges of endangering national security.