It was reported that leading Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah...

It was reported that leading Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi issued an edict ordering judges not to impose executions by stoning.
"I have chosen an alternative sentence for stoning and have issued a fatwa," he was quoted as saying in Iranian newspapers. It was not clear what the alternative punishment was.
Late in 2002 Iran's hard-line judiciary issued a provisional order for judges to issue other punishments for adultery other than stoning, an order which remained subject to a change in the law.