Germany Closes Iranian Consulates After Execution of Jamshid Sharmahd

Germany has ordered the closure of its three Iranian consulates in Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich following the execution of Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd in Tehran. This action was announced by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who expressed strong condemnation of Sharmahd’s execution, which took place on terrorism charges.

The German Foreign Ministry responded swiftly by summoning Iran’s chargé d’affaires to register an official protest. Sharmahd’s trial in 2023 was criticized by international rights organizations, including groups from Germany and the United States, which denounced the proceedings as fraudulent.

German Ambassador Markus Potzel previously raised objections to the death sentence during discussions with Iranian officials, including his counterpart, Abbas Araghchi. In a subsequent tweet, Araghchi emphasized that possessing a German passport does not exempt individuals from accountability for terrorist actions.

Sharmahd, who was born in Iran but held German citizenship, had been residing in Glendora, California. He was implicated in planning an attack on a mosque in 2008 that resulted in 14 fatalities, including five women and a child, and left over 200 others injured. Furthermore, Iranian authorities accused him in 2017 of disclosing sensitive information regarding missile facilities belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard during a televised broadcast.

In 2020, while preparing for a business trip to India, Sharmahd went missing from Dubai, where he operated a software company. His family received his last message on July 28, 2020, but the details surrounding his disappearance remain unclear. Tracking data revealed that his phone crossed the border into Oman the following day.

On July 30, the signal from his phone was last detected in the port city of Sohar, Oman. Following this, Iranian intelligence claimed to have apprehended Sharmahd in a “complex operation,” releasing images of him blindfolded and during his court proceedings in 2023.