Iran protests German officials' interventionist stance

Tehran: The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned Germany's Ambassador Markus Potzel over the "interventionist" stance adopted by some German officials, who questioned Iran's judicial jurisdiction.

During his talks with the envoy, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, director for Western European nations at Iran's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday lodged a protest against German officials' "inappropriate" stances towards the execution of Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd, who was the ringleader of the Tondar (Thunder) group designated as a terrorist entity by Iran, Xinhua reported.

He said that supporting Sharmahd, "who was responsible for several terrorist operations, including a lethal bombing in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz in 2008," was in contradiction with the German government's claims of promoting the rule of law, supporting human rights and fighting terrorism.

Everybody was equal before the law, and having the passport of a third country was not a pretext or permit for excluding a country's national from the enforcement of that country's law, said Ahmadabadi.

In a post on X on Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned the execution, which she said "would have severe consequences."