Alleged leader of US-based Iran militant group goes on trial

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s state TV is reporting the trial has begun of the alleged leader of the militant wing of a U.S.-based Iranian opposition group. He’s accused of planning a 2008 bombing at a mosque that killed 14 people and wounded more than 200. In 2020, Iran’s intelligence service detained Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German national and U.S. resident. Iran said he’s the leader of Tondar, the militant wing of the opposition group Kingdom Assembly of Iran. Sharmahd’s family says he’s just the spokesperson for the Kingdom Assembly of Iran. At the time of his detention, Iran alleged that Sharmahd was behind the 2008 bombing that targeted the Hosseynieh Seyed al-Shohada Mosque in the city of Shiraz.