The daughter of Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German citizen imprisoned in Iran, has sharply criticized German authorities for their silence regarding her father's incarceration, which has now reached 1,000 days.
In a video message posted on Twitter on January 18, Ghazaleh Sharmahd asked Germany's chancellor and foreign minister to try to help establish contact between her and her father before his possible execution saying "this is the least that Germany can do."
She said that over the past year, her father has been tortured, "his teeth have fallen out, he has lost 20 kilos, and he is unable to walk or breathe easily."
Last week, rights groups expressed concern at the possibility of a death sentence being handed down against Sharmahd, following his last trial session.
Sharmahd was detained 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.
According to the group's website, Sharmahd is an Iranian-German electronics engineer born in Tehran in 1955 who had lived in Germany and holds German citizenship. He moved to Los Angeles in 2003.
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 was 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.
During a current wave of unrest sparked by the death of a young woman while she was detained for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly, Iranian security forces have taken some 40 foreign nationals into custody.