Iran Executes California-Based Journalist – Guy D. McCardle
We live in a dangerous world. Some days, I think my current role is a journalist is equally as dangerous as my former career as a soldier. While traveling the world, you are at constant risk of being abducted and held against your will. In extreme cases, the abductors will take your life to make a political point. That is what happened recently to Jamshid Sharmahd.
Sharmahd, a German-American journalist and dissident who resided in California, was executed in Iran after being convicted on disputed charges of terrorism, sparking international condemnation. Sharmahd had been in Iranian custody since 2020, when he was allegedly abducted by Iranian agents during a trip to Dubai.
He was executed early in the morning of October 28, 2024. Iranian state press did not release the mechanism of Sharmahd’s death, but Iran typically executes condemned prisoners by hanging, usually before sunrise.
Born in Tehran in 1955, Sharmahd moved to Germany as a child and eventually became a German citizen in 1995. He later moved to the United States in 2003 and became a permanent resident. In addition to being a journalist, Sharmahd worked as a software engineer.
He became affiliated with Tondar, a US-based Iranian opposition group formally known as the Kingdom Assembly of Iran. Tondar advocates for the restoration of Iran’s monarchy, which was overthrown during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Mohamman Reza Pahlavi, commonly known to those in the West as “the Shah” or “the Shah of Iran” was overthrown by the 1979 Iranian Revolution thus abolishing the monarchy and bringing Ruhollah Khomeini to power. He is shown here in a 1973 portrait. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
We live in a dangerous world. Some days, I think my current role is a journalist is equally as dangerous as my former career as a soldier. While traveling the world, you are at constant risk of being abducted and held against your will. In extreme cases, the abductors will take your life to make a political point. That is what happened recently to Jamshid Sharmahd.
Sharmahd, a German-American journalist and dissident who resided in California, was executed in Iran after being convicted on disputed charges of terrorism, sparking international condemnation. Sharmahd had been in Iranian custody since 2020, when he was allegedly abducted by Iranian agents during a trip to Dubai.
He was executed early in the morning of October 28, 2024. Iranian state press did not release the mechanism of Sharmahd’s death, but Iran typically executes condemned prisoners by hanging, usually before sunrise.
Born in Tehran in 1955, Sharmahd moved to Germany as a child and eventually became a German citizen in 1995. He later moved to the United States in 2003 and became a permanent resident. In addition to being a journalist, Sharmahd worked as a software engineer.
He became affiliated with Tondar, a US-based Iranian opposition group formally known as the Kingdom Assembly of Iran. Tondar advocates for the restoration of Iran’s monarchy, which was overthrown during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Mohamman Reza Pahlavi, commonly known to those in the West as “the Shah” or “the Shah of Iran” was overthrown by the 1979 Iranian Revolution thus abolishing the monarchy and bringing Ruhollah Khomeini to power. He is shown here in a 1973 portrait. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The group strongly opposes Iran‘s current theocratic regime, aiming to replace it with a secular, monarchist government. As you might imagine, those currently in power in Iran are not crazy about this. They have branded Tondar (which means “thunder” in Persian) a terrorist organization accusing it of orchestrating attacks within Iran.
Iranian authorities accused Sharmahd of orchestrating the 2008 Shiraz mosque bombing, which killed 14 people. He denied any association with the attack.
These charges, however, were widely challenged as politically motivated, with human rights organizations like Amnesty International condemning the proceedings as a “grossly unfair trial” due to lack of evidence, allegations of forced confessions, and torture.
In February 2023, Sharmahd was sentenced to death under Iran’s “corruption on Earth” statute, which is often invoked in cases against dissidents. His family and supporters have advocated vigorously for his release, questioning the legitimacy of the charges and urging international intervention.
The Biden/Harris administration did next to nothing to free Sharmahd from the Iranians. He was not included in a prisoner swap deal negotiated by the Biden administration in September 2023. This deal secured the release of five Iranian-American hostages in exchange of unfreezing $6 million dollars of Iranian oil money. Critics immediately drew parallels to the case of Bob Levinson, who was left behind during a hostage release in 2015 under the Obama administration and later died in Iranian custody.
The US government was fully aware of what was going on in Sharmahd’s case. The State Department even had previously criticized the legal process against him calling describing it as a “farcical trial” during a briefing last fall.
Following his sentencing, Germany expelled two Iranian diplomats, and numerous human rights groups called for clemency and accountability regarding his treatment while imprisoned. It was all to no avail.
Sharmahd’s execution reflects broader tensions between Iran and Western governments over human rights abuses and the treatment of dual citizens, further amplifying concerns about Iran’s approach to foreign and dual nationals in its justice system.
