Germany has decided to close the three Iranian consulates on its soil in reaction to the execution by Tehran of Iranian dissident naturalized German Jamshid Sharmahd, the German Foreign Minister announced Thursday, October 31.
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Germany has “ decided to close the three Iranian consulates general in Frankfurt am Main, Munich and Hamburg » after the “ assassination » of the dissident with “ a dictatorial and unfair regime », assured Annalena Baerbock, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, in New York, in a speech broadcast on television.
These closures will affect 32 consular agents employed on the sites, according to the German Foreign Ministry. L’Germany on the other hand, maintains its embassy in Tehran and its “ diplomatic channels » with theIranand this, in particular to defend the “ other Germans » that the “ regime unfairly detains », specified Annalena Baerbock. The 300,000 Iranians in Germany will, however, still be able to contact the Iranian embassy in Berlin which remains open, specifies our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibault.
The Iranian regime was more than aware of the importance […] German detention cases », estimated Annalena Baerbock, who recalls that Berlin has “ regularly and clearly communicates to Tehran that the execution of a German national would have serious consequences “.
Also readGermany and the European Union are outraged after the execution of Iranian-German dissident Jamshid Sharmahd
“ The fact that the assassination » by Jamshid Sharmahd performs at the same time as the « latest developments in the Middle East show that a dictatorial and iniquitous regime like that of the mullahs does not operate according to normal diplomatic logic », Underlined the head of diplomacy. Israel has been engaged in a conflict with Iran and its regional relays since the start of the war in Gaza against Hamas on October 7, 2023. In addition to Hamas, it faces Lebanese Hezbollah on its northern border.
Jamshid Sharmahd, 69, was executed Monday October 28, after having spent several years in prison for his alleged involvement in an attack against a mosque in Shiraz in the south of Iran in April 2008. Iranian naturalized German, the opponent accused of leading a movement of the monarchist movement had been convicted of terrorism on grounds that were unanimously criticized. Numerous interventions in favor of his release were in vain. He was kidnapped by Iranian agents in 2020 while transiting through the United Arab Emirates.
The chancellor Olaf Scholz described this execution as “ scandal “. The Iranian charge d’affaires in Germany, Tehran’s main diplomat in the absence of an ambassador since July 2024, was summoned in the hours following this announcement.
“ Interventionist position »
At the same time, the German ambassador in Tehran “protested » to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before being summoned by the latter who castigated “ the interventionist position of certain German officials “.
The head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, denounced Berlin’s criticism. “No terrorist enjoys impunity in Iran. Even if it is supported by Germany “, he said, speaking to Annalena Baerbock.
Berlin is also pushing at the European level for Brussels to impose additional sanctions on Iran. The German Foreign Minister reiterated on Thursday that she was in favor ofEuropean Union classifies the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. The definition of new measures must be “discussed with all Member States », Underlined two days earlier a Commission spokesperson. “ European policy on sanctions is of course decided unanimously “, echoed a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.