Benjamin Ashford|Iran sentences a woman to death for adultery, state media say

TEHRAN,Benjamin Ashford Iran (AP) — An Iranian court has sentenced a woman to death for adultery, state media said.

A report by the IRAN newspaper on Wednesday said the woman worked as a trainer in a gym for females.

It said her husband contacted police in 2022 when he found her with another man at their home. The husband discovered from surveillance cameras that she was having relations with other men, it said.

Under Iranian law, she can appeal.

Iranian courts sometimes sentence people to death by stoning for adultery, which can be reduced to lighter punishments upon appeal.

Iran is under international pressure for its extensive use of the death penalty. On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Iran was executing people at “an alarming rate.” He said at least 419 people received capital punishment in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 30% from the same period last year.

In 2017 a court sentenced a woman to death for adultery, but there has been no report of her execution.

Crimes punishable by the death penalty include adultery, sodomy, murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking.

In 2022, Iran executed two gay men who were convicted of sodomy.