IRAN DENIES EXECUTIONS BY STONING

Justice minister Jamal Karimi-Rad reaffirmed that Iran is not carrying out death sentences by stoning, despite such verdicts still being handed down to several adulterers.
"We have had no cases of stoning. Such a verdict might have been issued by a lower court but it has never been executed," Karimi-Rad told reporters, adding that "it is extremely difficult" to prove the offences punishable by stoning.