Guido Steinberg, Islamic scholar at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik in Berlin, sharply criticizes the recent exchange of prisoners between several European countries and Iran. He considers it unlikely that the German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, will be rescued.
The German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd was finally sentenced to death in Iran at the end of April. A few days ago he contacted his family in Los Angeles. This could have been the “farewell call” just before his execution, his daughter Gazelle fears. How do you assess Sharmahd’s situation?
We have to assume there is no way Mr Sharmahd can be bailed out via a deal.
The Iranian regime is notorious for using foreign prisoners as a bargaining chip to extort concessions. Why not in this case too?
In my view, the case is not part of Iran’s hostage diplomacy. Hostage diplomacy is usually about chance victims whom the regime in Tehran is holding on flimsy pretenses like espionage because they are Western citizens and to extort concessions from their home countries. In the case of Sharmahd, Tehran considers him an important dissident who should be taken seriously. The person and the organization to which he belongs are considered a danger by the regime in Tehran. This has little to do with guilt or innocence. Tondar is a rather small, traditionally nationalist dissident group related to the historical Persian monarchy well before the 20th century. It is unclear whether she actually carried out attacks, as the Iranian judiciary accuses her of. In any case, state propaganda extensively exploited the Sharmahd case.