Was Iran sending a message by executing Jamshid Sharmahd?

On Tuesday, the German Foreign Ministry summoned its ambassador to Iran and lodged a "strong protest" after Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian political dissident, was executed in Tehran.

The Islamic Republic had accused Sharmahd of being the "ringleader of the terrorist Tondar group, who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America."

Hamid Ashtari, a political activist based in Sweden who spent eight years in Iranian prison, said Sharmahd's execution comes as Iran's ruling regime faces pressure on multiple fronts.

"Whenever the regime faces escalating political, social, and economic issues that weaken it, there tends to be an increase in executions. This is based on the belief that executing individuals can help the regime address its problems and reinforce its authority," he told DW.

Sharmahd accused by Tehran of ties to US and Israel

The little-known Tondar group, the armed wing of the "Kingdom Assembly of Iran," is based in California and says it seeks to restore Iran's monarchy that was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The Tondar group began its activities around 20 years ago but has maintained limited connections and cooperation with other Iranian opposition groups and had a minimal presence in popular Farsi-language media.

On August 1, 2020, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence said that its agents had captured Sharmahd in a "complex operation," without revealing further details.

On the same day, Iran's intelligence minister alleged that Sharmahd had been "heavily supported by US and Israeli intelligence services" and had been "drawn" to Iran through elaborate operations, ultimately landing in custody.

This was widely understood to imply that Iranian agents had abducted Sharmahd while he was in the United Arab Emirates and forcibly brought him to Iran.

Before his kidnapping, believed to have taken place in Dubai, and subsequent detention in Iran, the 69-year-old Sharmahd had been residing in California.

In February 2023, Sharmahd was sentenced to death by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Court, following his conviction on charges of "corruption on Earth," which, according to the UN, is a term Iran uses "to refer to a broad range of offences, including blasphemy and 'crimes' relating to Islamic morals."

Sharmahd was also accused of planning the 2008 bombing of a mosque during prayers in the southern Iranian city of in Shiraz that left 14 people dead and injured more than 200. 

Iran pinned blame for the blast on the Tondar group.

Confession under torture

Human rights organizations and Sharmahd's family have reported that he was subjected to torture while in prison.

Iranian state television aired propaganda videos in which Jamshid Sharmahd appeared to "confess" his involvement in the 2008 Shiraz blast.

Amnesty International reported that during the investigation and trial, Sharmahd was denied the right to choose an independent lawyer and to defend himself.

In May 2021, his family disclosed that the government-appointed lawyer demanded $250,000 from them, stating he would only "sit there in court" and would not represent Sharmahd unless the payment was made.

Was Iran sending a message?

Many view the execution of Sharmahd as a clear warning from the Islamic Republic to people and groups opposing Iranian authorities at home and abroad.

"The Islamic Republic was founded on two main pillars: execution and repression. Through executions, the regime aims to project its strength and compel the Iranian society and its true opposition to submit to its authority," Ashtari said.

Numerous opponents of the Islamic Republic and social media users assert that the military tensions with Israel have significantly weakened the Iranian government. In this context, the recent execution serves as a stark reminder that Tehran will continue to be unwavering in cracking down on dissent.

Jamshid Sharmahd was not the sole political prisoner in Iran to receive a death sentence.

Human rights organizations report that dozens of other political prisoners have also been sentenced to death or have been arrested on charges that could result in death punishment.

As a result, concerns have grown regarding the potential execution of these sentences for other prisoners.

 Gazelle Sharmahd told DW soon after her father's conviction in 2023 that he was the victim of a "terrorist regime" in Tehran.

"This is a regime that kidnaps people like my dad from outside of Iran, takes them over there. This terrorist regime will not respond to any kind of talks or diplomacy."

Edited by: Wesley Rahn