Iran has executed German-Iranian dissident Jamshid Sharmahd, following his conviction for "leading terror operations", state media is reporting. Sharmahd was sentenced to death last year for "corruption on Earth", having been accused of leading a US-based pro-monarchist group. He had denied the charges, with his family maintaining he was only a spokesman. Germany's foreign minister said Berlin had repeatedly warned Tehran the execution of a German citizen would "have serious consequences". "The killing of Jamshid Sharmahd shows what kind of inhumane regime rules (in Iran)," Annalena Baerbock posted on X. Human rights organizations have condemned the execution of Sharmahd, who lived in the US. "The entire process, including his arrest, conviction, and execution, constitutes a serious violation of international law," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group. In August 2020, Iran's intelligence ministry announced Sharmahd's arrest following a "complex operation", without providing any details. Another human rights group, Amnesty International, has claimed Sharmahd was forced to confess and that he had told his family he had been tortured in detention. It said Sharmahd had created a website to publish statements from the Kingdom Assembly of Iran, including claims of explosions inside Iran. The little-known US-based group, also known as Tondar (Persian for Thunder), seeks to restore the monarchy overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. However, Iranian authorities said he was Tondar's leader and had "planned 23 terror attacks", of which "five were successful", including the 2008 bombing of a mosque in Shiraz in that killed 14 people. They published a video in which he appeared blindfolded and confessed to various crimes. Sharmahd was sentenced to death in February last year. — BBC
