Iran’s judiciary said Iranian-German dissident Jamshid Sharmad died late last month before his execution was reported in state media.
The Judiciary News Agency said on October 28 that Sharmad, who was sentenced to death on charges of “earthly corruption” in 2023 after a trial that human rights groups said was grossly unfair, had been “punished for his actions”.
On Tuesday, judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters: “His sentence was ready to be carried out, but he died before it could be carried out.” He did not give further details.
There was no immediate comment from Germany or from Shamakhd’s daughter Gazelle, who had demanded evidence for his execution.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock ordered the closure of all three Iranian consulates in the country and summoned Germany’s ambassador to Tehran last week over what she called the “cold-blooded murder” of Sharmad.
Prime Minister Jahangir dismissed Germany’s protest at a press conference on Tuesday, insisting that Iran’s judicial system is an “independent institution” and “does not allow any foreign interference in judicial matters.”
He also said that Shamad, who lived in the United States, was tried “as an Iranian for the acts of terrorism he committed.”
On Sunday, Shamad’s family said they were waiting for Germany and the United States to find out what happened to him.
“Please know that we will not accept your condolences until we receive evidence from German and American authorities about the murder of your father, Jimmy Shammad, and the exact circumstances,” his daughter said. Gazelle Sharmahd wrote in.
“We don’t trust the empty words of terrorists or colluding governments, and neither should you.”
Iranian authorities have accused the 69-year-old journalist and activist of being the leader of a terrorist group known as Tondar and of plotting numerous attacks in Iran, including the 2008 Shiraz mosque bombing that killed 14 people.
Tondar, which means “thunder” in Persian, is another name for the Kingdom of Iran’s Council of Iran (KAI), a little-known U.S.-based opposition group seeking to restore the monarchy toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Sharmahd said he was only Tondar’s spokesman and was not involved in the attack.
His family believes he was abducted by Iranian agents in Dubai in July 2020 from where he was waiting for a connecting flight to India and then forcibly transported to Iran via Oman.
The following month, Iranian intelligence announced the arrest of Sharmad in a “complex operation,” without disclosing details. He also released a video showing him confessing to various crimes while blindfolded.
Iran’s judiciary announced Tuesday that a court in the northwest’s Orumiyeh sentenced three people to death for their involvement in the 2020 assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Fakhrizadeh was shot dead by a remote-controlled weapon near Tehran in an attack that Iran blamed on Israel.
Prime Minister Jahangir said the three were accused of “committing espionage for the Israeli occupation regime” and “of transporting equipment for the assassination of martyr Fakhrizadeh to Iran under the guise of smuggling alcohol.”
