Iran Stoning Woman 'Faces 99 Lashes'

Sarah Gordon, Sky News Online

An Iranian woman set to be stoned to death for adultery is facing 99 lashes for a photograph allegedly of her without a headscarf, her son has said.

Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani has been the subject of international outcry over her death sentence.

But she now faces the additional punishment for a picture that appeared in The Times in Britain.

In an interview published on French magazine La Regle du Jeau's website, the woman's son Sajjad Ghaderzadeh said they learnt of the lashes from inmates released from the prison in Tabriz, where his mother is being held.

He said a prison judge had confirmed the sentence for spreading "corruption and indecency" with the photo.

But the snap, featured in The Times, was apparently not even of 43-year-old Ms Mohammadi-Ashtiani - which the paper has acknowledged and apologised for.

The image of a woman without a hijab was published after it was passed to the newspaper by one of her lawyers.

But six days later, The Times said the attribution of the picture was incorrect and the woman shown was actually Susan Hejrat, a political activist living in Sweden.

Mr Ghaderzadeh said it was "certainly not" his mother.

Ms Mohammadi-Ashtiani's lawyer Mohammad Mostafei, who has fled Iran, said he received the images from Mr Ghaderzadeh - a claim he denied.

Mr Ghaderzadeh has since written an open letter claiming the new sentence is "an excuse" for the authorities to increase the "harassment" of his mother.

"We do not know how that picture was originally obtained, nor to whom the picture belongs," he said.

He also claimed Ms Mohammadi-Ashtiani had not been allowed any visits from family members or her lawyer for the past two weeks.

The mother-of-two received 99 lashes after being found guilty in 2006 of an "illicit relationship" with two men after her husband's death.

She was later also convicted of adultery and, although she retracted a confession made under duress, she was sentenced to be stoned.

Foreign governments have condemned the brutal punishment and the Vatican has confirmed it is in touch with Tehran "through diplomatic channels" to try and halt the action.