Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German prisoner living in California, was executed in Iran on terrorism charges

Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahdwho was kidnapped in Dubai in 2020 by Iranian forces, was sentenced in Iran after being convicted of terrorism charges contested by his family, the country's judges reported on Monday.

Sharmahd, 69, was one of a number of Iranian dissidents abroad in recent years who were tricked or kidnapped back to Iran as Tehran came under fire after the collapse of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Sharmahd's killing comes just two days later Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran amid the ongoing wars in the Mideast. Although they did not directly link his murder to the attack, law enforcement officials accused him of being “under the orders of experts in Western intelligence agencies, the United States and the child-killing Zionist regime” when he allegedly attacked Iran.

The judicial news agency Mizan reported that he was killed on Monday morning, without giving details. Iran, one of the world's leading executioners, usually hangs condemned prisoners in the morning.

Iran has accused Sharmahd, who lived in Glendora, California, for two decades, of planning a 2008 mosque attack that killed 14 people and injured more than 200 others, as well as planning other attacks on the opposition Kingdom Assembly of Iran and and the opposition group Tondar. military unit.

Iran also accused Sharmahd of “revealing classified information” on Iranian Revolutionary Guard missile sites during a television program in 2017.

“Without a doubt, the divine promise regarding the supporters of terrorism will be fulfilled, and this is a sure promise,” the judge said when announcing his execution.

Sharmahd's family has denied the allegations and has worked for years to see him released. They could not be reached for comment.

Germany expelled two Iranian politicians in 2023 over Sharmahd's death sentence. The US State Department called Iran's treatment of Sharmahd “reprehensible” and described him as facing a “bogus case.”

The German government and the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Amnesty International said Sharmahd's trial was “unfair” because he was denied access to an independent lawyer and the “right to self-defense.”

“The government-appointed lawyer said that unless $250,000 was paid to the family, he would not defend Jamshid Sharmahd in court and would only 'stay there',” Amnesty said in another report on his case.

However, Amnesty noted that Sharmahd had a website for the Kingdom Assembly of Iran and its Tondar terrorist wing that included claims of “explosives inside Iran,” although he has repeatedly denied involvement in the attacks.

Sharmahd was in Dubai in 2020 on his way to India for a business deal involving his software company. He was hoping to get a connecting flight despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic disrupting world travel at the time.

Sharmahd's family received the last message from him on July 28, 2020. It is not clear how the abduction took place. But tracking data shows that Sharmahd's mobile phone traveled south from Dubai to the city of Al Ain on July 29, crossing the border into Oman. On July 30, tracking data showed that the cell phone went to the Omani port city of Sohar, where the signal stopped.

Two days later, Iran announced that it had captured Sharmahd in a “sophisticated operation.” The Ministry of Intelligence published a picture of him blindfolded.

His daughter, Gazelle Sharmahd, saw her father appearing on Iranian television in court, looking shocked.

“He is being forced to confess to crimes he did not commit,” Gazelle Sharmahd told “60 Minutes” recently. “The case they gave him is corruption in the world and that's why he got the death sentence.”

Iran does this the highest number of executions every year after China, according to rights groups, including Amnesty International. The number of executions in 2023 was the highest recorded since 2015 and marked a 48% increase from 2022, and a 172% increase from 2021, Amnesty said.

According to Human Rights Watch, Iran executed at least 87 people in August, including 29 in one day.