Iran sentences alleged US-based militant leader to death

By JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s judiciary says a senior member of a U.S.-based opposition group accused of planning a deadly 2008 mosque bombing has been sentenced to death. Iranian authorities said on Tuesday that Jamshid Sharmahd is the leader of the armed wing of a group advocating the restoration of the monarchy that was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He is an Iranian-German national and U.S. resident. His family has said he was merely the spokesman for the opposition group and accuses Iranian intelligence of kidnapping him from Dubai in 2020. His hometown is Glendora, California. The death sentence, which can be appealed, comes against the backdrop of months of anti-government protests in Iran and a fierce crackdown on dissent.