U.S, Europe Outraged Over Iran Executing Another Dissident

The United States on Tuesday condemned the reported execution of U.S. permanent resident and German-Iranian dual citizen Jamshid Sharmahd in Iran, calling the regime in Tehran ‘brutal’ and ‘repressive’, TURAN’s Washington correspondent reports.

Iranian security forces kidnapped the 68 year old California resident in 2020 during a visit to Dubai, and smuggled him to Iran. The country’s state media reported Monday that authorities executed Sharmahd after convicting him on “terrorism” charges.

“This is the latest abhorrent act by Iran following the transnational repression it committed when it abducted him,” State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN’s questions. “It also underscores the record pace of unjust executions that Iran continues unabated, despite Iran’s attempts to put a gentler face to the international community.”

Germany’s Foreign Ministry recalled its ambassador to Iran on Tuesday for consultations and also summoned Iran’s charge d’affaires in Berlin. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the German government “made it crystal clear to Tehran time and again that the execution of a German national would have severe consequences.”

Miller also said that Washington was in touch with the German Government, and other allies, and “we will continue to stand with them in holding the Iranian regime accountable for its brutal human rights abuses.”

“You’ve seen us, since the outset of this administration, impose more than 700 sanctions on Iran and Iran entities for a number of actions, including their human rights violations against their own people,” he said.

“I will make no apologies for our efforts to hold Iran accountable for its behavior,” Miller added.

The European Union also condemned the execution, saying that it would consider taking measures in response, as the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell put it on Tuesday.