Iran's judiciary says a dual German-Iranian national sentenced to death on terror charges died while in prison and was not executed, as previously reported by local media.
Reports from state media that Jamshid Sharmahd was executed surfaced on October 28, sparking a diplomatic row with Berlin that saw Germany shut all three of Iran's consulates in the European nation.
However, Asghar Jahangir, a spokesman for the judiciary, contradicted the reports on November 5, saying a judicial statement on the issue was misquoted as it did not specifically say the death sentence had been carried out. No details on Sharmahd's death were given.
"There was no deadline for the execution of Sharmahd's sentence, he died before the execution of the death sentence," Asghar Jahangir said.
Sharmahd, 69, was accused by Iran of heading a pro-monarchist group that Tehran believes was behind a deadly 2008 bombing and of planning other attacks in the country.
He was in Dubai and heading to India for a business trip when he went missing for several days before Tehran announced it had taken Sharmahd into custody and brought back to Iran.
Fourteen Iranians were killed and 210 others wounded in the attack at the Sayyid al-Shuhada Husseiniya mosque in Shiraz during a ceremony to mourn the death of Imam Hussein, the third imam of Shi'a Muslims.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused Sharmahd, who lived in Glendora, California, of planning the bombing, a charge his family dismissed as "ridiculous."
In reaction to the reports of Sharmahd's execution, the European Union put out a statement "strongly" condemning the punishment and accusing Iran of having "illegally" abducting the software engineer, holding him for years "under inhumane conditions without a fair trial."
Western governments and rights groups have long accused Iran of detaining dual citizens to use them as bargaining chips against the West.