Germany to close Iranian consulates following execution of German prisoner in Iran

The German government Thursday ordered Iranian Consulates in the country to close in response to the execution of a German-Iranian prisoner on Monday. 

Jamshid Sharmahd, the Associated Press reports, was executed Monday on terrorism charges. The U.S., Germany and international rights groups condemned Sharmahd’s 2023 trial as a sham. 

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced Thursday that consulates in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich will close, which will leave Iran with only its embassy in Berlin. 

Sharmahd lived in the U.S. and in 2020, he was kidnapped in Dubai by Iranian security forces. He was one of several Iranian dissidents living abroad, the Associated Press reports, who were tricked or kidnapped and brought back to Iran.