Scholz condemns Iran for executing German national

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz slammed Iran for the execution of a German-Iranian dual citizen and described his death as a “scandal.”
“The execution of Jamshid Sharmahd by the Iranian regime is a scandal that I condemn in the strongest possible terms,” Scholz said in a post on X.
The Iranian judiciary had announced the execution of Sharmahd on Monday. Sharmahd, an opposition activist, was abducted during a stopover in Dubai in 2020 and sentenced to death by the Iranian regime on terror charges.
“We have repeatedly made it clear to Tehran that the execution of a German national will have serious consequences,” Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said in a post on X.
Conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz meanwhile called on the government to chance course in its dealings with Iran.  
“The ‘quiet diplomacy’ approach with Iran has failed. The Iranian ambassador must be expelled. The downgrading of diplomatic relations to chargé d’affaires level is appropriate,” the Christian Democratic Union boss said in a post on X.
Merz also urged ruling politicians to tighten sanctions against Tehran at the European level and impose concrete measures against the public prosecutors, courts and security authorities responsible for Sharmahd’s killing.