Germany expels two Iranian diplomats in support of terror ringleader

In yet another indication of Germany’s belligerent policies against the Islamic Republic, the German Foreign Ministry has expelled two Iranian diplomats in reprisal for a death sentence handed down to the ringleader of a US-based terrorist group accused of committing a series of terror attacks in the country.

The Federal Foreign Office announced in a statement on Wednesday that Germany had declared two employees of the Iranian Embassy in Berlin “personae non gratae” and ordered them to leave the country.

The decision was made after the Iranian Judiciary sentenced Iranian citizen Jamshid Sharmahd, who also holds German citizenship, to death on charges of "corruption on earth” by planning and orchestrating terrorist acts against the Islamic Republic.

Germany also summoned Iran's charge d'affaires over the verdict, with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accusing the Islamic Republic of the “massive violation of the rights of a German citizen.”

In support of the terrorist ringleader, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also condemned Sharmahd's death sentence and said the verdict was “unacceptable.”

Sharmahd was the ringleader of the Tondar (Thunder) terrorist outfit. He was charged with planning a series of attacks, including a 2008 attack against a religious congregation center in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, Fars Province, which martyred 14 people and wounded hundreds.

Sharmahd and his Tondar group, were also behind a 2010 terrorist bombing at Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum in the Iranian capital, which left several people injured.

The 67-year-old was also charged with working with US intelligence and spying on Iran's ballistic missile program.

According to Judiciary's Mizan news agency, Sharmahd had planned to commit 23 terrorist acts and succeeded in executing five, adding, “His verdict can still be appealed in the Supreme Court.”

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced in a statement in August 2020 that it had arrested the terrorist ringleader, who had directed "armed operations and acts of sabotage" in Iran from the US.

Upon his arrest, Sharmahd admitted to providing explosives for the bombing attack in the Hosseynieh Seyed al-Shohada Mosque in Shiraz, in which 14 people were martyred and more than 200 wounded.

According to the Ministry, the group had planned to carry out several high-profile and potentially deadly attacks across the Islamic Republic, but its efforts were thwarted by the intricate intelligence operations targeting the outfit.

SS