REPORT: TWO GAY IRANIANS FACE STONING

There have been unconfirmed reports that two men accused of gay sex have been sentenced to execution by stoning in Iran.

According to the International Committee Against Stoning, Ayub (20) and Mosleh (21) are accused of having filmed themselves having sex with a 17 year old.

It is believed that in order to save his life the 17 year claimed to have been raped by the pair.

It was also reported that the video, which was found by the authorities on the men’s mobile phones, included pictures of Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

The men are currently imprisoned in the city of Orumieh and may be executed on Friday.

Iran is one of seven countries with laws allowing executions for consensual same-sex conduct. Iranian newspapers have previously published reports of executions for same-sex conduct although the government claims that most involve rape.

In December, Human Rights Watch said that “it cannot be ruled out that Iran is sentencing sexual minorities who engage in consensual same-sex relations to death under the guise that they have committed forcible sodomy or rape”.

The International Committee Against Stoning called for immediate action “to protest the Islamic regime’s medieval and brutal sentence against these two young men”.