A 69-year-old journalist and software engineer kidnapped by Iran while traveling in the United Arab Emirates in August 2020 was executed on Monday.
Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian and permanent resident of the United States since 2003, living in California, was sentenced to death in February 2023. Tehran said that he had led the terrorist group Tondar (also known as the Kingdom Assembly of Iran), which sought to overthrow the government of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The regime also alleged that Sharmahd played a role in a 2008 attack that killed 14 and wounded 300 at a mosque in Shiraz. He also allegedly disclosed classified information about Iran’s missile program in 2017.
Germany had criticized the sentence and demanded its citizen’s immediate release. Sharmahd’s family had also fought to clear his name and get him home. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned the execution, calling it “a scandal.”
