U.S. Policymakers Must Recognize That Iran’s Hostage Taking Is Not the Work of Rogue Individuals but a Rogue Regime
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s judiciary announced that it executed Jamshid Sharmahd on October 28, 2024. Sharmahd was a German citizen and U.S. resident who anchored a television show for the opposition Tondar [“Thunder”] group. He became a target of the regime after a 2007 Iranian hack exposed his identity.
He was also the man President Joe Biden left behind. On September 11, 2023, the Biden administration acknowledged a complicated, multi-country hostage and prisoner swap deal. In exchange for a $6 billion ransom, Iran released five Iranian American hostages, but he inexplicably left Sharmahd behind.
The Iranian regime often seizes hostages to ransom for cash. Mohsen Rezaei, a prominent Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) general and a member of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s inner circle, once suggested taking 1,000 American hostages to fix Iran’s economic problems. The hostages Biden ransomed were Iranian Americans who sought to do business in the Islamic Republic before running afoul of the IRGC. Sharmahd was different. He did not travel freely to Iran; rather, Iranian agents kidnapped him from Dubai.
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