GERMAN CITIZENS IN THE HANDS OF THE REGIME IN IRAN  

Our Advocacy for Jamshid Sharmahd and Nahid Taghavi 

Jamshid Sharmahd and Nahid Taghavi are two German citizens who have been wrongfully imprisoned by the Islamic Republic of Iran. HÁWAR.help is working closely with their families to achieve the goal of overturning their sentences, as well as securing their immediate release and safe departure. Both were sentenced by courts in Iran. However, Iran’s “judicial system” is merely a facade designed to create the illusion of a legitimate rule of law—an illusion that deceives. Both individuals are innocent, as are many others imprisoned in the country. The only thing they did was to criticize the regime and advocate for democracy and human rights in Iran.

It is part of the Iranian regime’s perfidious practice to arbitrarily arrest foreign citizens. Through this form of hostage diplomacy, it enforces state interests against the countries whose citizenship the abducted individuals hold.

Update on Jamshid Sharmahd  

Jamshid was killed on October 28, 2024. Our condolences go out to his family. Even though it had been clear – at the latest since the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic upheld his death sentence in April 2023 – that the execution could be carried out at any time, the news of his brutal death has deeply shaken us all. 

On April 11, 2025, Gazelle Sharmahd and her family, together with HÁWAR.help and numerous allies, held a moving memorial in Berlin to say farewell to Jamshid. The autopsy report, which was made public during the event, revealed that essential organs required to determine the cause of death were missing. As a result, the exact cause of death remains unclear. With HÁWAR.help, we stand firmly by Gazelle’s side and demand that an investigative commission fully uncover the circumstances surrounding Jamshid’s murder. 

Update on Nahid Taghavi 

Nahid Taghavi is free! After more than four years, the German hostage of the Islamic Republic of Iran was welcomed by her daughter, Mariam Claren, at the Cologne-Bonn Airport. 

The Case of Jamshid Sharmahd 

Jamshid Sharmahd had been advocating for human rights and politically persecuted individuals in Iran for years. When he made a stopover in Dubai in 2020 as part of a business trip, he was abducted to Iran. There, he was held in an undisclosed location and subjected to severe torture for years. All his teeth were removed, and medical treatment for his Parkinson’s disease was denied. In February 2023, he was sentenced to death in a show trial, which was broadcast on the Islamic Republic’s state television. On April 26, 2023, the death sentence was confirmed by the Iranian Supreme Court.

Daughter Gazelle Sharmahd in Germany 

Together with Jamshid’s daughter Gazelle Sharmahd, HÁWAR.help had been fighting for Jamshid’s life and release for years. In March 2023, despite security concerns raised by her mother, Gazelle took a great risk and traveled to Germany with HÁWAR.help to personally meet with political decision-makers. Along with the organization “Frauen für Freiheit” (Women for Freedom) and the Mideast Freedom Forum Berlin, HÁWAR.help facilitated Gazelle Sharmahd’s stay in Germany and organized press and meeting appointments. 

 The Case of Nahid Taghavi 

 Nahid Taghavi was arrested in Tehran in October 2020 for her activism in women’s and workers’ rights and spent 220 days in solitary confinement in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran. In August 2021, the Cologne native was sentenced to ten years and eight months in prison for “membership in an illegal group” and for “propaganda against the state.” The inhumane conditions of her detention had serious effects on her health. Her pre-existing spinal disc problems worsened, and she now suffers from pain in her cervical spine, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Nahid urgently needed medical care, which was denied to her in prison.

Her daughter, Mariam Claren, had been fighting for Nahid’s release since the day of her unlawful arrest. Together with Daniela Sepehri and Mina Khani, she initiated the sponsorship program for political prisoners in Iran. Her activism goes far beyond her mother’s case.