Jamshid Sharmahd

Germany to close Tehran's consulates over execution of dual national

Thursday, 10/31/2024

Germany will shut all Iranian consulates in the country but allow the embassy to remain open in reaction to the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen and US resident. 

The killing of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd has put "extreme" strain on the relationship between Berlin and Tehran, the German foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Germany has already recalled its ambassador to Iran over Sharmahd's execution and summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires to voice Berlin's protest. The ambassador left Iran on Wednesday morning, said a German foreign ministry spokesperson.

"Our diplomatic relations are already more than at a low point," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in New York.

"Further Germans are also being unfairly held. We are also deeply committed to them and continue to work tirelessly for their release," she said.

Baerbock also urged Brussels to put Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) on EU’s terror list.

Iran executed the 68-year-old dissident who was a software developer and California resident on Monday. He was abducted by Iranian agents during a visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2020 and forcibly taken to Iran. In February 2023, the Iranian judiciary sentenced him to death on charges of endangering national security.

The European Union announced Wednesday that it is considering targeted and significant measures against Iran following the execution of Sharmahd.

In a statement on Tuesday, the EU condemned in the strongest terms the execution of the German-Iranian national and expressed its full solidarity with Germany. Similar remarks were made by European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on his X account on Tuesday.

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