Rights group: Cancel Iran execution

TEHRAN, July 6 (UPI) -- Human rights group Amnesty International is calling on Iran to cancel the scheduled execution of a man convicted of murder when he was 15 years old.

Malcolm Smart, director of the Middle East and North Africa program for Amnesty International, said Mohammad Reza Haddadi's family were informed July 4 his execution has been scheduled for the early morning hours of July 7.

"Mohammad Reza Haddadi must not be executed for a murder that he is alleged to have committed when only 15 years old," Smart said. "The Iranian authorities must immediately cease executing convicted juvenile offenders, in breach of international law."

Officials said Haddadi initially confessed to the murder of Mohammad Bagher, but later said he lied about his involvement because he was promised money by his co-defendants. The two other men accused of the murder have also since altered their stories to claim Haddadi was not involved.

Smart said the execution has been rescheduled three times since it was first set for October 2008.

"This constant and repeated threat of imminent execution hanging over Mohammad Reza Haddadi, and the fear and anguish that this is causing him and his family is no less than a form of torture," Smart said. "The threat of execution must be lifted now, once and for all."