The German Government is Working to Retrieve the Body of Jamshid Sharmad from Iran

The Federal Government of Germany states that it is working to ensure the return of the body of Jamshid Sharmad, an Iranian-German citizen, to Germany. Jamshid Sharmad, a political activist, was abducted by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence from the United Arab Emirates and was taken for execution; however, Iran later announced on November 7 that this prisoner had 'died' before the execution. In a specific response to Radio Farda's questions regarding Jamshid Sharmad, the German Foreign Ministry wrote: 'We are seriously and at a high level working to return Mr. Sharmad's body' and added that 'we are in close contact with his family members.' Earlier, Iranian media quoted the Iranian judiciary as saying that the process of transferring Mr. Sharmad's body to Germany had been completed and that it had been 'handed over' to the German government after legal procedures were carried out. Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, called the issuance of the death sentence for Sharmad a scandal and stated that this Iranian-German citizen did not have the opportunity to defend himself in a fair trial. On January 24, the European Parliament, in a resolution condemning the death penalty policy in Iran, referred to the execution of Jamshid Sharmad and urged Tehran to return his body to his family and to publish details regarding the circumstances of this opposition figure's death. The case of Jamshid Sharmad, an executed political prisoner in Iran who held German citizenship and a U.S. residency card, has long been a subject of political conflict between the governments of Tehran and Berlin. The judiciary and other senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran accused Jamshid Sharmad of 'designing multiple terrorist operations,' including 'the bombing and explosion of the Seyyed al-Shuhada Hosseiniyeh in Shiraz' in April 2008. However, the German government, relatives, and human rights activists strongly rejected the accusations against him.