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US Envoy Meets Family of Iranian-German Imprisoned in Iran

A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering “Free Jamshid” during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)
A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering “Free Jamshid” during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)
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US Envoy Meets Family of Iranian-German Imprisoned in Iran

A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering “Free Jamshid” during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)
A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering “Free Jamshid” during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)

A US envoy for Iran met on Friday with the family of Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd, who was sentenced to death in February in Iran after being convicted of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly 2008 bombing.

Deputy Special Envoy Abram Paley posted a picture of himself with Sharmahd's son Shayan and daughter Gazelle on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

"I welcomed the opportunity to meet with Jamshid Sharmahd’s family today. He should have never been detained in Iran, and we hope to see the day he is reunited with his loved ones," Paley wrote.

Responding to the post, Gazelle Sharmahd said she had told Paley she needed "actions" and that her father must be part of whatever is agreed to free US nationals.

"We will continue to urge the Biden Administration to work with stakeholders to #LeaveNoOneBehind or stop negotiations with my dad’s kidnappers," Sharmahd said on X.

Jamshid Sharmahd, who also has US residency, was arrested in 2020. Iran's intelligence ministry at the time described him as "the ringleader of the terrorist Tondar group, who directed armed and terrorist acts in Iran from America."

Based in Los Angeles, the little-known Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar, says it seeks to restore the Iranian monarchy that was overthrown by the 1979 revolution. It runs pro-Iranian opposition radio and television stations abroad.

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China Condemns German Navy's Transit of Taiwan Strait

FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa
FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa
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China Condemns German Navy's Transit of Taiwan Strait

FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa
FILED - 06 September 2024, South Korea, Incheon: The German frigate "Baden-Wuerttemberg" is moored in the port of Incheon. Photo: Fabian Kretschmer/dpa

China's military on Saturday condemned the transit of two German navy ships through the Taiwan Strait saying it increased security risks and sent the "wrong" signal, adding that Chinese forces monitored and warned the vessels.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait. Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait - a major trade route through which about half of global container ships pass - is an international waterway.
The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said the passage of the two ships - a frigate and a supply vessel - was "public hyping,” and that its navy and air forces monitored and warned them throughout.
"The German side's behavior increases security risks and sends the wrong signal. Troops in the theatre are on high alert at all times and will resolutely counter all threats and provocations," Reuters quoted it as saying in a statement.
China's embassy in Germany said in a separate statement it had lodged "representations" with Berlin, saying Taiwan belonged to China, a position the democratically elected government in Taipei strongly rejects.
"The question of Taiwan is not a matter of 'freedom of navigation,’ but of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.
The Taiwan Strait is Chinese waters "and there are no so-called 'international waters' at all,” the embassy added.
China urges Germany to avoid any "interference" that would jeopardize the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, it added.
Taiwan's government says only the island's people can decide their future.
US warships sail through the strait around once every two months, drawing the ire of Beijing, and some US allies like Canada and Britain have also made occasional transits.
China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, has over the past five years stepped up military activities around the island, including staging war games.
On Saturday, Taiwan's coast guard said it had again sent ships to monitor and warn away four Chinese maritime police vessels sailing in restricted waters near the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, which sit right next to China's coast.
The Chinese ships have continued to provoke and damage peace in the strait, and the coast guard is determined to defend Taiwan's sovereignty upholding the principles of no provocation, no conflict and no show of weakness, it said.