The leader of Germany's Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, said on July 1 that he has been told he cannot visit the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death. "After several months of processing, my application to enter Iran was rejected. The regime denies me an insight into the prison conditions of the German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd," Merz wrote on Twitter. Iran's Supreme Court confirmed the controversial death sentence against the journalist at the end of April. In February, a revolutionary court found Sharmahd responsible for an alleged terrorist attack. He has denied the charges and his daughter said he has been tortured in prison.