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LONDON: Iran denied on Thursday that it was poised to execute a woman accused of adultery whose case has been championed in the West, saying reports her execution was imminent were part of a propaganda campaign. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has been accused both of adultery and of being complicit in her husband's murder. Her sentence to be stoned to death was suspended earlier this year after prominent political and religious figures called it barbaric.
German-based human rights group the International Committee against Stoning said on Tuesday she would be hanged on Wednesday instead of being stoned. Under Islamic law, which has been in force in Iran since its revolution in 1979, murder can be punished by hanging, while adultery can be punished by stoning.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday he had been told by his Iranian counterpart that Ashtiani would not be executed that day.
A statement from Iran's Embassy in London on Thursday said legal hurdles still remain in Ashtiani's court case.
“The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London hereby announces that the recent reports and news concerning the imminent execution of Mrs Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani are all baseless and are strongly rejected,” it said.
“The judicial proceedings and process dealing with the case have not been completed yet. All the recent reports in this regard, merely baseless claims, are meant to stage a propaganda campaign and create a poisonous atmosphere against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” it said.
The United States this week condemned the reported plans to execute Ashtiani, Britain warned Iran against going ahead with the punishment and France asked Iran to pardon Ashtiani.
The case has worsened relations between Iran and the West, which are locked in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme. – Reuters
