Iran's execution of Jamshid Sharmahd has strained relations with Germany. (Source: Getty Images)

On October 28, Reuters news agency quoted Iranian media as saying that the country had executed Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian citizen of German origin, after he was convicted of carrying out terrorist attacks.

Sharmahd, who also holds a permanent resident card in the United States, was sentenced to death in 2023 for “committing crimes on Earth.”

Iran accuses Sharmahd of leading a pro-monarchy group that is believed to have carried out a deadly bombing in 2008 and planned other attacks in the country.

Sharmahd's arrest was announced in 2020 in a statement by Iran's Intelligence Ministry, which described him as "the leader of the Tondar terrorist group, who directs armed and terrorist activities in Iran from the United States."

Tondar, or the Kingdom Council of Iran, is a little-known organization based in Los Angeles that claims to aim to restore the Iranian monarchy, which was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Kingdom Council of Iran currently operates opposition radio and television stations abroad.

Following the incident, on October 29, the German Foreign Ministry summoned Iran's highest-ranking diplomat in Berlin to protest and warned that "additional measures" could be taken.

On October 31, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced that she would close three Iranian consulates in Frankfurt, Munich and Hamburg in response to the execution.

"We have repeatedly made clear to Tehran that the execution of a German citizen would have serious consequences," Ms. Baerbock said.

In response to this move, on November 1, Iran's IRNA news agency reported that the country's Foreign Ministry summoned Germany's Charge d'Affaires in Tehran Hans-Peter Jugel to protest.