 "Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Reuters File")
Germany has maintained a travel warning for Iran and has urged its citizens to leave the country, citing incidents like the execution of a German-Iranian national, which demonstrates that Tehran may take German citizens hostage, according to a foreign ministry spokesperson in Berlin.
“We have long had a travel warning for Iran and a request to Germans in Iran to leave the country because we saw from the Jamshid Sharmahd case that Iran is taking German citizens hostage," Reuters quoted the spokesperson as saying at a government news conference.
“We want to spare other German citizens this fate,” the spokesperson added.
On Thursday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said it will close all three of its consulates in Iran following the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd, a German-Iranian dual citizen and prominent dissident.
Baerbock said relations between the two nations are at “more than a low point” after Iran confirmed Sharmahd’s execution on October 28.
The 69-year-old was sentenced to death by an Iranian Revolutionary Court on charges of “corruption on earth,” in a trial criticised for lacking due process.
Sharmahd, who had been living in Los Angeles for about 20 years, was abducted by Iranian security forces in 2020 while traveling in Dubai and was smuggled into Iran.
Baerbock accused Iran of politicising its hostages, emphasising, “We have repeatedly and unequivocally made it clear to Tehran that the execution of a German citizen will have serious consequences.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsShe said Germany would push the European Union to impose sanctions on those responsible for Sharmahd’s execution and to classify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
The IRGC has already been designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States since April 2019.
With inputs from agencies