Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 18 / Trend T. Jafarov /
The United States has sentenced 53 women to death, but these incidents have been downplayed, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today.
"The United States talks about the legality of such a sentence, but when it happens in Iran, it is presented as a violation of human rights," Ahmadinejad said during a press conference in Baku when asked about the fate of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who is sentenced to death.
According to Mahmoud, the United States seeks political gain from human rights issues.
"Why are executions in the United States not made public and why is such a fuss made around a sentence that has not even been carried out yet?" he said.
The 43-year-old Ashtiani is a mother of two. Initially, she was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. She was then convicted in 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men after the murder of her husband and was sentenced to 99 lashes.
In September, she was sentenced to death by stoning for murder.
According to Iranian General Prosecutor Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje'i, the sentence is more of a priority than the penalty for adultery.