Iran executes alleged leader of US-based terror group

By Ahmet Dursun

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran on Monday executed Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German citizen accused of leading a US-based anti-government organization and carrying out terrorist attacks in the country, Iranian state media reported.

The death sentence for Sharmahd -- who was convicted in February 2023 by a court for conducting terror operations -- was carried out after being upheld by the Supreme Court, state television reported.

In a statement, the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office said Sharmahd was the ringleader of the terrorist organization known as “Tondar,” which is based in the US state of California. It seeks to restore Iran's monarchy, which was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“He planned numerous terror acts against Iran under the orders of Western and American intelligence agencies and bosses in the child-murdering Zionist regime,” the statement added.

Tondar, the armed wing of the “Kingdom Assembly of Iran,” was accused of organizing an April 12, 2008 terrorist attack in the city of Shiraz that left 14 people dead and 215 injured as well as other armed actions and sabotage operations across the country.

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence announced in July 2020 that it had captured Sharmahd, who had resided in the US since 2003, outside the country and brought him back to Iran.

Sharmahd’s family claimed that he was abducted in the United Arab Emirates.

He was sentenced to death by a court on Feb. 21, 2023.

In response to Sharmahd’s death sentence, Germany called for it to be revoked and declared two employees at Iran’s embassy in Berlin persona non grata on Feb. 22.