A senior member of a U.S.-based Iranian opposition group held by Iran and accused of orchestrating a deadly 2008 mosque bombing has been sentenced to death, authorities said Tuesday.
Iran says Jamshid Sharmahd, a 67-year-old Iranian-German national and U.S. resident, is the leader of the armed wing of a group advocating the restoration of the monarchy that was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
His family has said he was merely the spokesman for the opposition group and denied he was involved in any attacks. They accuse Iranian intelligence of abducting him from Dubai in 2020. His hometown is Glendora, California.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the death sentence is “absolutely unacceptable” and that there would be a “clear reaction,” without elaborating.
She said Sharmahd did not have “even the beginning of a fair trial” and that consular access and access to the trial had been “repeatedly denied.” She also said he had been arrested “under highly questionable circumstances,” without elaborating.
The death sentence — which can be appealed — comes against the backdrop of months of anti-government protests in Iran and a fierce crackdown on dissent.
