Iran official claims imprisoned California resident died pre-execution

A man in a protective mask in a courtroom

By Jon Gambrell

Nov. 5, 2024 10:08 AM PT

DUBAI — An Iranian official said Tuesday that Iranian German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd died before Tehran could execute him — directly contradicting the country’s earlier announcement he had been put to death.

The comment by Asghar Jahangir came after Germany shut down all three Iranian consulates in the country over Sharmahd’s death, leaving only the embassy in Berlin open. Germany later disputed Jahangir’s remark.

Meanwhile, even Iran’s reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has offered his own criticism of Germany’s response to Sharmahd’s death as tensions remain high between Tehran and the West over Iran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program and the Mideast wars.

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency quoted Jahangir as saying: “Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his sentence was ready to be carried out, but he passed away before implementation of the sentence.”

He did not elaborate. Jahangir’s remarks were made to the state-affiliated Quds newspaper after a weekly news conference, when journalists typically buttonhole the spokesman into answering questions he didn’t take from the lectern.

Germany’s Foreign Ministry, reacting to the official’s comment, said: “His death was confirmed to us by the Iranian side.

“Jamshid Sharmahd was abducted by Iran and held for years without a fair trial, in inhumane conditions and without the necessary medical care,” the ministry said. “Iran is responsible for his death.”

Germany added that it was “lobbying the Iranian government to hand over his body to his family.”

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the death of Sharmahd, who once lived in Southern California.

Jason Poblete, a lawyer representing Sharmahd’s family, told the Associated Press that the conflicting comments from Iran were “deeply concerning.”

“This inconsistency raises serious questions about the circumstances of the death and the transparency of the Iranian system,” Poblete said. “The family has been urging the German and U.S. authorities to investigate this matter to ascertain the truth, ensure accountability thoroughly and reunite Jimmy with his family in California.”

Iran had said it executed Sharmahd on Oct. 28. He was 69.

Iran accused Sharmahd, who lived in Glendora, of planning a 2008 attack on a mosque that killed 14 people — including five women and a child — and wounded more than 200 others, as well as plotting other assaults through the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar militant wing.

Iran also accused Sharmahd of “disclosing classified information” on missile sites of Iran’s paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during a TV program in 2017.

His family disputed the allegations and had worked for years to get him freed. Germany, the U.S. and international rights groups have dismissed Sharmahd’s trial as a sham. Amnesty International said the proceedings against Sharmahd had been a “grossly unfair trial” because he had been denied access to an independent lawyer and “the right to defend himself.”

However, Amnesty also noted that Sharmahd ran a website for the Kingdom Assembly of Iran and Tondar that included claims of “responsibility for explosions inside Iran,” though he repeatedly denied being involved in the attacks.

Sharmahd was apparently kidnapped while on a layover in Dubai in 2020. His family received their last message from him on July 28 that year.

It’s unclear how the abduction happened, but tracking data showed that Sharmahd’s cellphone traveled south from Dubai to the city of Al Ain on July 29, crossing the border into Oman.

On July 30, tracking data showed the phone traveled to the Omani port city of Sohar, where the signal stopped.

Two days later, Iran announced it had captured Sharmahd in a “complex operation.” The Intelligence Ministry published a photograph of him blindfolded.

Since his death, Germany shut down the consulates. It’s a diplomatic tool Berlin seldom uses and signals a major downgrade in relations with Tehran.

But Iran — including Pezeshkian, who campaigned on a promise of getting sanctions on the Islamic Republic lifted — has responded by criticizing Germany and the West.

“When someone, who has slaughtered dozens, is executed, they say you do not observe human rights,” Pezeshkian said.

Gambrell writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.