Iran expels two German diplomats in retaliation to Berlin

In a retaliatory move, Iran has expelled two German diplomats from the country. The move follows Berlin’s similar move the week before.

On Wednesday, the Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesman Nasser Kanani announced that Tehran has declared two German diplomats personae non gratae due to Berlin’s recent “interventional and irresponsible measures.” The move by Iran follows a similar measure taken by Germany last week.

“The priority of the Islamic Republic of Iran is always to maintain cooperation in an atmosphere of respect but if other sides want to ignore the fundamental tenets and national governance of our country, then defining new options is unavoidable,” said Kanani, adding that the German ambassador was informed after being summoned.

Last week, Berlin expelled two Iranian diplomats following Tehran’s sentencing of Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd, who also holds residency in the United States. The judiciary convicted Sharmahd of “corruption on Earth” which carries the death penalty. Tehran said Sharmahd was the leader of a US-based terrorist group responsible for a 2008 bombing at a mosque that led to 14 people dead and hundreds wounded.

Sharmahd and a pro-monarchist group were also found guilty of launching other attacks and planning more “terrorist” operations in Iran. Sharmahd’s family has maintained his innocence, and Germany condemned the sentencing as “unacceptable,” calling for his release.

Iran and Germany have been at odds in the past several months, largely over Tehran’s crackdown on the ongoing protests that have been taking place across the country since September last year. Berlin has strongly backed European Union sanctions on Iran over its crackdown on the demonstrations, and the bloc intends to widen the scope of the sanctions to include Iranian individuals and entities involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Tehran has accused the West of fomenting the protests which sparked in September after the death of a Kurdish-Iranian woman in morality police custody.

On Thursday, the British Navy said it seized Iranian weapons, including anti-tank guided missiles, last month from a smugglers’ vessel in the Gulf of Oman. The United Kingdom said the vessel was detected travelling south from Iran during the dark hours by an unmanned US intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft and was also tracked by a British helicopter.

When the Royal Navy flagged the vessel, it attempted to navigate to Iran’s territorial waters but was stopped by a unit of Royal Marines, according to the British defense ministry.