Iran slams US tribute for Tondar group leader Jamshid Sharmahd

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
Today 15:25

Iran denounced a US official’s tribute to Jamshid Sharmahd, leader of the Tondar group, calling it “shameful” and accusing the United States of supporting terrorism against the Islamic Republic.

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Jamshid Sharmahd pictured at his trial in Tehran in February 2022. (Koosha Mahshid Falahi/AP)

Iran has strongly condemned a memorial tribute made by a US official for Jamshid Sharmahd, the executed ringleader of the anti-Iran Tondar group, calling the act “shameful” and an endorsement of terrorism.

The response came after US State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott took to social media platform X to “honor the memory” of Sharmahd, who was sentenced to death for orchestrating terrorist attacks inside Iran.

Mohsen Shamsizadeh Rawandi, deputy spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, denounced the statement, saying, “This is truly shameful and pathetic. US politicians have become so addicted to supporting blind terrorism against the Iranian nation that they even shed tears for dead terrorists who took pride in killing and maiming innocent Iranians in a mosque in Shiraz.”

Shamsizadeh Rawandi added that Pigott’s comments “only prove your government's complicity in his criminal acts and further burden the international responsibility of the United States government.”

This is truly shameful & pathetic! The U.S. politicians have become so addicted to supporting blind terrorism against the Iranian nation that they even shed tears for dead terrorists who took pride in killing and maiming innocent Iranians in a Mosque in Shiraz. pic.twitter.com/mvyD1tr0Em
— mohsen.ravandi (@mohsenravand) October 30, 2025

Sharmahd’s role in the 2008 Shiraz attack

Sharmahd, who held German citizenship and was a US resident, led the Tondar group, a pro-monarchy organization Iran classifies as a terrorist entity. He was found to have been behind a 2008 bombing at a religious congregation center in the southern city of Shiraz, which killed 14 people and wounded hundreds more.

Iranian intelligence forces arrested Sharmahd in 2020, and he stood trial before in 2022.

Sharmahd was sentenced to death for his involvement in the bombing and for threats to national security, but Judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir announced on November 5, 2024 that Sharmahd had died of a stroke before his execution could be carried out.