Dispute over verdict against activist: Iran expels two German diplomats

Dispute over verdict against activist
Iran expels two German diplomats

The verdict against the German-Iranian Sharmahd also has consequences in the German embassy in Tehran: Iran has declared two diplomats undesirable persons – as a reply to the expulsion of two Iranian embassy employees from Germany.

In retaliation for the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats from Germany, Tehran expelled two German diplomats from the country on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry in Tehran announced that the two German diplomats would be declared undesirable persons because of “German government interference in internal and legal affairs” in Iran.

A week ago, the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin declared two Iranian embassy employees undesirable because of the death sentence imposed on the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd in Iran. They were “requested at short notice” to leave Germany, as Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced on Wednesday last week. She had also summoned the charge d’affaires of the Iranian embassy and spoke of an “absolutely unacceptable” verdict.

The Iranian judiciary had sentenced the 67-year-old exile opposition leader Sharmahd to death on charges of terrorism. In particular, the Iranian judiciary accuses Sharmahd of being involved in an attack on a mosque in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz in April 2008, which killed 14 people. She also accuses him of establishing contacts with “FBI and CIA officers” and “attempting to contact Israeli Mossad agents”.

Sharmahd’s family and supporters had urged the federal government to stand up for the 67-year-old and “save his life”. Sharmahd’s death sentence came a day after the European Union (EU) announced new sanctions against Iran. The EU sanctions come in response to Iran’s repression of demonstrations that have been taking place across the country since the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on September 16.

In all, Iran is holding at least 17 Western citizens. Most of them have dual nationality, which Tehran does not recognize. Human rights groups say those arrested are part of an Iranian hostage policy designed to force concessions from foreign governments.

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