Stoning Sentence Suspended

Iran has suspended the sentence of death by stoning for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman convicted of adultery.

"The verdict regarding the extramarital affairs has stopped and it's being reviewed," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the state-run Press TV [Press TV, 8 September].

The suspension of the sentence comes after weeks of condemnation from around the world for the barbaric nature of the sentence.

Iran Silent on Brazil’s Appeal to Free Mohammadi- UPDATE

By Nader Uskowi

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made no public reactions to the personal appeal by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula to grant asylum by Brazil to Sakineh Mohammadi, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Lula said on Saturday he hoped his friendship and regard for the Iranian president, the supreme leader, and the Iranian people was “worth something” and the Iranian leaders would accept Brazil’s offer of asylum for Mohammadi.

The Iranian media has also blocked the news of Lula’s offer. Even the Press TV, the English-language state-owned network that tries to portray a professional image for itself, has been silent on Lula’s offer.

The Iranian leaders and the country’s media have recently touted Brazil and its president as Iran’s greatest ally and have pointed to Lula’s personal involvement during Tehran Conference to strike a deal between Turkey, Brazil and Iran on the country’s nuclear program. Lula has been portrayed in Iranian media as a symbol of independence in today’s world. Now Lula’s personal appeal to Iranian leaders to free Sakineh Mohammadi from the cruel and uncivilized sentence she has received has put them in an awkward position. They cannot appear yielding to a foreign leader’s pressure on a domestic matter, but they cannot afford loosing Lula as an ally.

The episode shows the serious shortcomings of Iranian diplomacy. Desperate to prove that Iran is not rapidly being isolated at the world’s stage, the Iranian leaders and their controlled media made big deal of the move by Brazil and Turkey, portraying them as the vanguards of the struggle against “world arrogance.” But the policy cuts both ways. What if those very countries object to the reactionary policies of the Islamic Republic, as is the case with Lula’s offer for Mohammadi?

These are indeed some of the darkest days for Iranian diplomacy since the Iran-Iraq war ended two decades ago.

UPDATE (2 August): The US urged Iran to accept the asylum offer from Brazil for Sakineh Mohammadi.

"If Brazil is willing to accept... this woman, we would hope that Iran would consider that as a humanitarian gesture," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said on Monday. "And the fact that Brazil has stepped up and indicated a willingness to resolve it, we hope Iran will listen." [AFP, 2 August].

Brazil Offers Asylum for Sakineh Mohammadi

Sakineh Mohammadi

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula today offered to give asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery.

"I want to make an appeal to my friend Ahmadinejad, the supreme leader of Iran, and to the government of Iran to allow Brazil to take in the woman”, Lula said [AFP, 31 July].

Mohammadi, a 43-year-old mother of two, was sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted in 2006 of having an extramarital affair. Her sentence sparked an outcry in Western countries, and was temporarily halted earlier this month by the Iranian judiciary chief.

"I have to respect country’s laws, but if my friendship and regard I have for the president of Iran and the Iranian people is worth something, if this woman is causing discomfort, we could take her in Brazil," Lula added.