Tehran, November 26: Iran on Friday, November 26, hanged a 17-year-old boy who was convicted of murder when he was 16, sparing uproar among rights groups. Hamidreza Azari was executed in a prison in Sabzevar, a town in eastern Iran, according to Hengaw and Iran Human Rights (IHR), both based in Norway. Iran International, a Persian-language satellite TV channel, also reported the execution and said Azari was the only child in his family and had worked as a scrap worker since a few years ago. He was reportedly involved in a fatal fight with a man in May and sentenced to death.

The Middle East Eye reported, citing the rights groups as saying Iran had once again violated the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that anyone under 18 is a child. “Iran is one of the few countries that executes child convicts and has executed more juveniles than all other countries,” IHR said, adding that it had recorded at least 68 executions of minors in Iran since 2010. ‘Iran’s Fingerprints Are All Over’ Recent Attacks on American Troops in Iraq and Syria, Say US Officials.

IHR director Mahmood-Amiry Moghaddam said: “In Iran, you need to be 18 years old to get a driver’s licence, but 15 years old is enough to be executed.” IHR said Iran’s latest penal code set 15 as the minimum age of criminal responsibility for boys. The group said Iranian media had also reported the execution of a person named Hamidreza A. but lied about his age and said he was 18 in a “deliberate attempt to evade accountability for violating international laws”. Iran Court Sentences Woman to Death for Adultery After Husband Catches Her With Another Man Via Home Security Camera.

On Thursday, Iran also hanged a man in his early 20s who was the eighth person to be executed in connection with the nationwide protests that broke out in September 2022.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 26, 2023 07:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).