Daughter of executed German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd says Tehran must be 'punished'

Outrage after Iran carries out death sentence against activist

Gazelle Sharmahd campaigned for the release of her father Jamshid after his arrest and death sentence in Iran. Photo: Gazelle Sharmahd

The daughter of an activist executed in Iran has called for the regime to face a “severe punishment” as she denounced the US and Germany for failing to protect him.

Iran's judiciary said a death sentence against Jamshid Sharmahd was carried out on Monday after he was convicted on terrorism charges last year. He held a passport from Germany, which said his trial was unfair, and lived in the US before his arrest in 2020.

His daughter Gazelle Sharmahd, who had campaigned for his release, suggested the execution was an act of retaliation for Israeli strikes against Iran. She said her father's killing “must have immediate and unmistakable grave consequences” for the regime.

“We do not want any statements or condolences that do not include the immediate return of my father, dead or alive, and a severe punishment for the Islamic regime murderers,” Ms Sharmahd wrote on social media on Tuesday.

An Iranian charge d'affaires was summoned to the German Foreign Ministry on Tuesday over what the government in Berlin called Mr Sharmahd's murder. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the execution was “a scandal, which I condemn in the strongest terms”.

Mr Scholz said Mr Sharmahd never had a chance to defend himself in court. Responding to the German criticism, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that "a German passport does not provide impunity to anyone, let alone a terrorist criminal".

On Tuesday, EU foreign affairs minister Josep Borrell condemned the execution of Mr Sharmahd and called on Iran to refrain from carrying out executions in the future. He also repeated the bloc's call for Iran to end the “distressing practice of detaining foreign civilians and dual nationals with a view to making political gains".

Mr Borrell said the execution of a European citizen was “seriously harming relations between Iran and the European Union” and warned the bloc would "now consider targeted and significant measures".

Abram Paley, a US deputy special envoy for Iran, called it “the latest abhorrent act in the regime’s long history of transnational repression”. Mr Sharmahd should never have been imprisoned in the first place. His kidnapping and rendition, as well as sham trial and reports of torture, were reprehensible,” Mr Paley said.

The US State Department said it “stands with his family” in holding Iran accountable but did not immediately announce new measures. The European Union's foreign affairs minister said he was "considering measures in response".

Jamshid Sharmahd was commemorated outside the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin after news of his execution in Iran. AP

Ms Sharmahd said the US government “did nothing” and was trying to “shift responsibility” to Germany. She accused both of “abandoning [her father] in every hostage negotiation”. Mr Sharmahd was not among five Americans released in a prisoner swap last year in which the US agreed to unfreeze $6 billion for Iran.

“I can only say at this point that my love and duties to my father and his leading role in freeing our homeland go beyond death,” Ms Sharmahd said. She had previously reported signs of her father being tortured, including missing teeth, facial bruising and difficulty walking.

Iran had accused Mr Sharmahd of leading a “terror ring” planning attacks from the US, including a 2008 mosque bombing that killed 14 people. He was charged with “corruption on earth”, a broad accusation that has been used against minority activists and protesters.

Born in Iran, Mr Sharmahd left his home country after the 1979 revolution and settled in Germany. He and his wife had a son, Shayan. They moved to California in 2003 where he worked as a software engineer and built a website for a local Persian-language TV station.

Jamshid Sharmahd was convicted in Iran on charges of 'corruption on Earth', a broad accusation often levelled against dissidents. AFP

Speaking to The National last year, Mr Sharmahd's daughter, who called her father Jimmy, said he had been “left behind to die” after he was not part of the American prisoner swap. She said the US had a duty to protect its citizens and residents “equally and fairly”.

The death sentence last year led to retaliatory expulsions of diplomats from Berlin and Tehran. It was upheld by Iran's Supreme Court last year in what Germany said was an unacceptable end to an unfair trial. Dozens of dual and foreign citizens are being held in Iran, some of whom have been detained for more than a year with no formal charges pressed. Relatives and rights groups have accused the regime of using people as bargaining chips against western powers.

Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and activist, praised Ms Sharmahd for “bravely stepping into the fight, becoming her father’s voice”. She called on Germany to close its embassy in Iran and designate its Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorists because “condemnations alone are no longer enough”.