Germany expels two Iran diplomats over dual national’s death penalty

BERLIN: Germany said on Wednesday that it was expelling two diplomats from the Iranian embassy in Berlin in response to the death sentence an Iranian court handed down against an Iranian-German national.

After the death penalty verdict on Tuesday against Jamshid Sharmahd, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement that Berlin was “declaring two Iranian embassy staff members to be persona non grata” and “ordering them to leave Germany”.

A ministry spokesman said later the Iranians would have “a few days” to quit the country. Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned “in the strongest terms” the verdict against Sharmahd, who supporters say was abducted abroad and forcibly returned to Iran for a show trial.