Spared by chief justice, Iranian hangs anyway

Neither the condemned man’s family nor his attorney, Eghbali, was told about the execution until after it had occurred, according to Alizadeh, who spoke with Eghbali and journalist Khalatbari after the hanging.

Msnbc.com’s requests for comment via telephone and e-mail to the Mission of Iran at the United Nations in New York were not answered Wednesday.

The pre-dawn execution came as the Muslim nation basked in vindication of a U.S. intelligence review released earlier this week that concluded Iran stopped developing an atomic weapons program in 2003. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called the report a "declaration of victory" for Iran's nuclear program, the focus of extensive saber-rattling recently by the Bush administration.

Nuclear, military distractions
"The Iranian government is taking advantage of that story and violating people’s basic rights,” Alizadeh said. “Since the start of the nuclear crisis, the international community has paid less and less attention to the human rights issues and more and more to the military and nuclear issues with Iran.”

Of particular concern to groups like Alizadeh’s is what appears to be a surge in Iran of executions for crimes alleged to have occurred when the perpetrators were children. With Mouloodzadeh’s death, Iran has now executed 18 such young men and women in the past four years, according to Human Rights Watch. According to Amnesty International, Sudan has executed two juvenile offenders in the same time period, while China, Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia executed one each. The United States last executed a person for crimes committed as a juvenile in 2003.

MORE FROM MIDEAST & N. AFRICA

Mideast & N. Africa Section Front

Brothers who fled Yemen can stay in U.S. Federal case threatens mosques Palestinians urge cancellation of election Diplomats question role of Iran nuke plant Iraq prison head, staff detained after breakout Mideast & N. Africa Section Front   Add Mideast & N. Africa headlines to your news reader: