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, Jasmshid 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 fourth court hearing for the abovenamed was held on 21 June 2022 with the court advisor, the defendant’s lawyer and the prosecutor’s representative in attendance, during which, as per the merits of the case, explanations presented by the judicial officers, the defendant’s lawyers, other defendants’ confessions against the abovenamed pointing to the terrorists operations carried out by him, as well as the complaint lodged thereagainst by families of those who were martyred and injured during the a bombing at Hosseinieh Rahpouyan-e Vesal in Shiraz, the fourth part of the bill of indictment was read out to the Court by the prosecuting attorney, the highlights of which are listed hereunder:
The fourth court hearing for Jamshid Sharmahed, the ringleader of the terrorist Tondar group, was held at Branch 15 of the Court of Revolution.
The aforesaid is also accused of disclosing the Country’s classified information.
The defendant has confessed that information pertaining to 10 IRGC hangars was supposed to be sold to them, adding that: “I took the IRGC missile coordinate information to the FBI and disseminate two pieces of information on Tondar TV.”
The accused has confessed to having detonated a sound bomb in the city of Abadan back in April 2016. The terrorists Kingdom Assembly has claimed responsibility for the incident, describing it as the commencement of the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In a statement, the terrorist Tondar group set a 120-day deadline for the Country's officials and warned that if they are not removed from their positions, they will “turn Iran into hell” with their operations.
The aforesaid has also claimed responsibility for a bombing incident in the Pirouzi Oil and Gas Refinery in the city of Shahroud on 16 October 2016. Following the explosion, two other oil tanks in the refinery also detonated due to the spread of the fire. Taking responsibility for the explosion right after the incident, the Tondar group terrorists released a statement pointing to the explosion of one of the oil tanks, adding that a person named Bardiya who had carried out the operation, managed to return safely to his hideout.
A footage related to the terrorist explosion incident in the aforesaid refinery was put on display during the court session.
Another terrorist act carried out by the defendant is the explosion of the IRIB building in the city of Shiraz. He has confessed that a handmade bomb was successfully exploded behind the said building in 2016. Appearing on a TV program, the defendant has already touched upon the details of his terrorist operation. During the TV program, he stated that three or four youths detonated the bomb, and threatened the Iranian authorities with more terrorist operations.
He has also acknowledged that a plan entitled “Payam-e Salman” was implemented in the city of Shiraz with the cooperation of the Tondar group terrorists. He has stated in his confessions that following the explosion of an improvised explosive device near the IRIB building in the city of Shiraz, the abovenamed plan was implemented by Rouzbeh Yahyazadeh, a member of the terrorist Tondar group, at the end of April 2016. In a statement addressed to its members, the terrorist Tondar group announced that in order to implement the plan in question, they – in addition to working for the abovenamed group – should recruit people or face punishment.
As per the defendant, a terrorist working for the Tondar group named Ali Asghar Posht-tar had told him that a person called Majid Rastgou has informed them to distribute leaflets for the said plan among young members of the Basi in the city of Shiraz so that they leave the organization. After the leaflets were distributed among them, the Tondar group terrorists, by identifying the young Basij members and obtaining their cell phone numbers, transmitted their information to Sharmahd, after which he would threaten them via phone call from abroad.
Another plan hatched by the defendant was to assassinate one of the local officials in the city of Marivan. Mustafa Ali Zamani, a terrorist living in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, was directly responsible for carrying out the assassination. He was directly in contact with Sharmahd. In order to carry out the assassination, the defendant coordinated with an Iraqi Kurd named Borhan about the exact day and modus operandi; however, the operation was called off given the existing opposition to the person tasked with pulling the trigger.
The defendant has also confessed that he had planted a chemical bomb in a motorcycle and intended to detonate it near the Holy Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (PBUH) in Qom, adding that the operation was not executed after being exposed. Another terrorist operation that was set to be carried out by the terrorist Tondar group was to detonate a bomb at the Shah Feiz seminary in the city of Shiraz. Ali Asghar Posht-tar and Majid Rastgou were tasked with carrying out the operation. However, the terrorist act was called off for some reasons.
Sharmahd has confessed to having intended to plant a bomb in a minibus transporting Basij and IRGC officials and administrative personnel in the city of Shiraz. According to the defendant, Ali Asghar Posht-tar was tasked with carrying out the operation. Posht-tar has confessed that: “Having identified the minibus carrying Basij and IRGC personnel, I took a taxi and chased it claiming that the minibus driver owes me money so I indent to identify his house. I found his residential address. I intended to plant a bomb in the minibus at midnight so that I can detonate it when all the IRGC and Basij personnel get onboard.” According to the prosecutor’s representative, the intended terrorist operation was not carried out for some reasons.
The Tondar group terrorists also planned to assassinate Ayatollah Haeri, the late Leader of Shiraz Friday Prayers, during the congregational Eid al-Fitr prayer ceremony. The defendant has confessed to having planned to assassinate him among people with a multirotor while leading the Eid al-Fitr prayer in Shiraz. The operation was however called off after those behind it were exposed and arrested.