US must justify ties to US-based terror group leader Sharmahd: Iran

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
28 Aug 2023 18:17

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry says progress has been achieved in the fulfillment of the US-Iranian prisoner swap agreement.

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani (IRNA)

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaani, pointed out on Monday that the United States should justify its ties to the Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd sentenced to death in Iran, confirming that a prisoner exchange agreement with Washington had made headway.

On Friday, US Deputy Special Envoy for Iran, Abram Paley, met with Sharmahd's family. "I welcomed the opportunity to meet with Jamshid Sharmahd’s family today. He should have never been detained in Iran, and we hope to see the day he is reunited with his loved ones," Paley wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

I welcomed the opportunity to meet with Jamshid Sharmahd’s family today. He should have never been detained in Iran, and we hope to see the day he is reunited with his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/NzAcVJO96H
— Office of the Special Envoy for Iran (@USEnvoyIran) August 26, 2023

Sharmahd, who also holds a US residency, was arrested in 2020. Iranian Ministry of Intelligence Ministry at the time deemed him as "the ringleader of the terrorist Tondar group, who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America." The pro-monarchist group is accused of being responsible for a deadly bombing in 2008.

In February, an Iranian court sentenced Sharmahd to death on charges of "corruption on earth." His daughter has asked the US administration not to exclude Sharmahd from the prisoner exchange deal that was reached with Iran.

On August 10, Iran released four Americans into house arrest, joining a fifth already under home confinement, as part of a deal reached with the United States, under which the five would be allowed to leave Iranian soil in exchange for the unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian assets.

Kanaani indicated that progress has been achieved in the fulfillment of the US-Iranian agreement, thanking Qatar and Oman for their "constructive role" in facilitating the deal.

In mid-August, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that the US approach to Iran has remained the same after the two countries agreed on the release of five of the five Americans.

The detainees' transfer to house arrest was "just the beginning of a process that I hope and expect will lead to their return home to the United States," Blinken pointed out.