Iranian official claims Iranian-German prisoner died before being executed

DUBAI – On Tuesday, an Iranian official said that Iranian-German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd died before Tehran could execute him, directly contradicting the country’s earlier announcement of his execution.

Asghar Jahangir’s comments come as Germany closed Iranian consulates due to Sharmahd’s death.

Judicial news agency Mizan quoted Jahangir as saying: “Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his sentence was ready to be carried out, but he died before the sentence was carried out.”

He didn’t specify. His remarks were made to the newspaper after a weekly news conference.

Authorities in Germany and the United States, where Sharmahd once lived, could not be reached for comment. Iran said it executed Sharmakhd on October 28. He was 69 years old.