HCHR- The trial of Sharmahd, the ringleader of the Tondar (Thunder), a terrorist group accused of committing terror attacks and anti-revolutionary operations against Iran, was held in a plenary court session presided over by Judge Abolqassem Salavati in the capital, Tehran.
The prosecutor's representative, the families of the victims of the group’s terrorist acts and the defendant and his lawyers were in attendance.
The highlights of the hearing is available here.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is among few nations to have been a major victim of terrorism despite taking various counter-terrorism measures. Over recent decades, more than 17,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives in terrorist operations carried out by a variety of terrorist groups.
Enjoying the all-out support of the U.S. government, Jamshid Sharmahd, the ringleader of the terrorist Kingdom Assembly of Iran, hereinafter referred to as Tondar, was carrying out terrorist operations prior to his arrest in July 2020. The first court hearing for Sharmahd was held on 6 February 2022 in the presence of the defendant’s attorneys.
The sixth court hearing for the abovenamed was held on 26 July 2022 with a court advisor, the defendant’s attorney and the representative of the Prosecutor General of Tehran in attendance. The highlights of the court session are listed as hereinunder:
The judge, as the session was commenced, called the defendant, Jamshid Sharmahd, to the dock and asked him to defend himself against charges attributed thereto. Standing in the dock, the abovenamed said: “This is Jamshid Sharmahd, son of Hamid, born in 1995. I am married and have been living in California, the United States. I hold both Iranian and German citizenship.
Recalling charges brought against the defendant, the judge said: The accusations leveled against Jamshid Sharmahd, which were read thereto based upon the indictment issued in the previous court sessions, are 1) guiding and spearheading the Tondar terrorist group, 2) planning and directing terrorist acts, 3) planting a bomb at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal (a place for worship) in Shiraz on 12 April 2008 which left 14 people martyred and 300 others injured, 4) planting a bomb at the entrance of the Sivand Dam tunnel in Shiraz, 5) planning to assassinate officials, 6) making a bomb and planning to explode it in the Ayatollah Golpayegani Library and Seminary in Qom, which led to arson at Hotel Jahan of Tehran, 7) bomb blast in the antechamber of the mausoleum of the late Imam Khomeini carried out via Bijan Abbasi, a terrorist who was neutralized, on 20 June 2009, 8) explosion of IRIB tower in Shiraz, 9) sound bomb explosion in Abdanan refinery in Ilam, 10) arson in Shahroud refinery, 11) disclosure of classified information about missile coordinates belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, 12) having contact and cooperation with spy agents of the hostile U.S. government and the Zionist regime, 13) financing terrorist activities in Iran worth over $30,000, 14) planning to bomb Genaveh port oil pipelines, 15) planning to assassinate a local official in the city of Marivan, 16) planning to bomb the Russian Consulate General in Rasht, 17) planning to bomb the Rasht mosque during Friday prayers, 18) planning to assassinate the then governor of Guilan, 19) planning to intoxicate the drinking water of the holy city of Qom, 20) planning to bomb the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (PBUH), 21) planning to bomb the Shah Faiz seminary in Shiraz, 22) planning to bomb the Shiraz University mosque, 23) planning to bomb the transport busses for IRGC and Basij personnel, 24) planning to assassinate the then Imam of Friday prayers in Shiraz, 25) planning to rob banks and money exchange offices with the use of weapons, 26) planning to bomb the Tehran International Book Fair, 27) planning to bomb Abdulazim seminary in Shahr-e Rey, 28) planning to carry out terrorist operations in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 29) planning to bomb the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as planning to carry out more than 30 other terrorists acts – all of which have been foiled by the Ministry of Intelligence. The defendant has been indicted for all charges enumerated hereinabove. The judge, then, asked the defendant to present his defense.
The abovenamed, at the beginning of his defense, stressed: I do not accept the charges brought against me. As the court session went by, the judge asked the defendant to explain how he was recruited into the Tondar terrorist group and became its’ ringleader, and elaborate on the explosion at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal in Shiraz. The defendant replied: It all started when I was immigrating from Germany to the United States. Back in 2002, I founded a software company in the U.S.; and then, I was interested in some topics related to the history of Iran and Islam and promoted them.
The judge once again asked the defendant to explain about the bombing at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal in Shiraz. The defendant responded: The explosion was carried out by one of the members of the association named Majid Rastgou in Shiraz. Rastgou phoned me and said he had a plan and he wanted to do it. I asked him to let me know once the plan is finalized.
Addressing the defendant, the judge asked: What is your response to statements made by the honorable families of the martyrs who lost their lives at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal in Shiraz? Sharmahd replied: I have nothing to say but, sorry! The judge then said: You knew there were children and women at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal in Shiraz. “No, I didn’t”, Sharmahd claimed.
The judge added: The details of the operation had been communicated to you. The defendant said: by whom? The judge noted: Eslamian and Rastgou. By order of the judge, a footage related to the court session of defendant, Mohsen Eslamian, and his confessions in 2008 was put on display. As the footage came to an end, the judge asked: How do you explain it? The defendant did not provide any comments on the question.
The judge asked: Have you taken responsibility for the bombing at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal in Shiraz? The defendant answered: Yes, I have. But I’ve done nothing. By order of the judge, a footage related to the statements made by the defendant following the explosion at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal in Shiraz was put on display. The judge added: All your emails are available when you ordered the bombing. The judge then ordered a footage pertaining the statements made by Eslamian during a court session in 2008 about his relationship with Sharmahd, be put on display.