A court in Tehran has ordered Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd and the United States government to pay $2.5 billion in compensation to victims of a 2008 bombing in Shiraz in southern Iran.
The Tehran International Claims Court handed down its decision on March 11, saying 116 plaintiffs claiming to be families of the deceased and wounded in the attack at the Sayyid al-Shuhada Husseiniya mosque were owed compensation. Fourteen Iranians were killed and 210 others wounded in the incident, which occurred during a ceremony to mourn the death of Imam Hussein, the third imam of Shi'a Muslims.
The court said Sharmahd was part of the Tondar group, which it deemed responsible for the bombing in Shiraz, according to the Mizan News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary.
Sharmahd was detained under unclear circumstances in 2020 and is accused by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry of being a member of the Iranian opposition group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar.
Based in Los Angeles, Tondar says it aims to overthrow the Islamic republic and reestablish a monarchy similar to that of Cyrus the Great. It runs pro-Iranian opposition radio and television stations abroad, as well as social media channels. Because it is based in the United States, the court ruled the U.S. government is also liable.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused Sharmahd of planning the bombing, a charge his family has robustly refuted, dismissing them as "ridiculous."
In November, Sharmahd's daughter, Gazelle Sharmahd, said her 68-year-old father is barely able to walk and talk due to health conditions that prison authorities have failed to properly treat. She added that her father suffers from Parkinson's disease and could die due to his deteriorating health
Iran is known to have assassinated and abducted multiple exiled opposition figures in the past, including Iranian journalist Ruhollah Zam, the administrator of the opposition Amadnews Telegram channel that has been accused by authorities of stirring up domestic dissent.
At least one other Iranian-German dual citizen, Nahid Taghvi, is also being held in Iran, which has arrested dozens of foreigners and dual nationals in recent years, often on widely criticized espionage and security-related charges.
Western countries have repeatedly said that Iran is trying to take advantage of foreign countries by taking dual and foreign nationals hostage and then using them in prisoner swaps.