Iran Supreme Court upholds Iranian-German's death sentence
World
Iran Supreme Court upholds Iranian-German's death sentence (Image: Middle East Eye)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Iranian-German dual national Jamshid Sharmahd on charges of "corruption on earth", a judiciary spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The Islamic Republic's hardline judiciary handed down the death penalty against Sharmahd in February after convicting him of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing and planning other attacks in the country.
"The sentence has been confirmed by the Supreme Court. After the lower court is notified, actions will subsequently be taken to implement the Supreme Court's decision," the spokesperson, Masoud Setayeshi, was quoted by judiciary media outlet Mizan as telling a weekly press conference in Tehran.
A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry said Berlin was shocked by reports that the death sentence had been upheld and was working to confirm this.
"If this were true, the situation would indeed be very serious," the spokesperson said, reiterating that Germany found the death sentence for Sharmahd completely unacceptable.
Tensions have been mounting between Iran and Western powers over issues ranging from Tehran's disputed nuclear programme to its violent crackdown on months of protests following the death in police custody of a young woman last September.
Sharmahd, who also has US residency, was arrested in 2020 and the intelligence ministry at the time described him as "the ringleader of the terrorist Tondar group, who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America".
Based in Los Angeles, the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar, says it seeks to restore the Iranian monarchy that was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It runs pro-Iranian opposition radio and television stations abroad.
In February, Germany declared two employees of the Iranian embassy personae non gratae and ordered them to leave the country in response to the death sentence.
