Iran Says Executing Child Offenders Not a Rights Violation

Majid Tafreshi senior Iranian official and member of the state-run High Council for Human Rights, speaks to AFP at his office in the capital Tehran, on June 29, 2021 - AFP
Majid Tafreshi senior Iranian official and member of the state-run High Council for Human Rights, speaks to AFP at his office in the capital Tehran, on June 29, 2021 - AFP
TT
20

Iran Says Executing Child Offenders Not a Rights Violation

Majid Tafreshi senior Iranian official and member of the state-run High Council for Human Rights, speaks to AFP at his office in the capital Tehran, on June 29, 2021 - AFP
Majid Tafreshi senior Iranian official and member of the state-run High Council for Human Rights, speaks to AFP at his office in the capital Tehran, on June 29, 2021 - AFP

Iran's use of the death penalty for crimes committed as minors does not mean it violates human rights, a senior Iranian official has insisted to AFP in response to UN criticism.

The Islamic republic executes convicts for crimes they committed while under-age "three to four times" a year, argued Majid Tafreshi of the state-run High Council for Human Rights.

Such uses of capital punishment are "not a symbol of violations of human rights," he said in an interview with AFP, charging that criticism of the practice was "not fair".

"When we are talking about under-18s, we are not talking about six or five years old. We are talking about mainly our 17 years old big boys (where) the court recognized their maturity."

The United Nations and human rights groups frequently criticize Iran for executing child offenders, which violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that Tehran has ratified.

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet last week pointed to Iran's "widespread use of the death penalty" and said that "over 80 child offenders are on death row, with at least four at risk of imminent execution".

Tafreshi, the council's deputy head of international affairs, rejected international criticism.

He said the council's broad goal "is minimizing the number of executions... as much as possible", calling it an effort for which "nobody applauds Iran".

Iran last year executed at least four people found guilty of murders committed when they were minors, according to the UN.



Israel Tells Worried Members of Iran’s Security Services to Contact Mossad

 Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Israel Tells Worried Members of Iran’s Security Services to Contact Mossad

 Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)
Huge smoke rises up from an oil facility facility after it appeared to have been hit by an Israeli strike Saturday, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP)

The Israeli military is urging members of the Iranian security services to contact Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, claiming they had been receiving messages from officials worried about Iran’s “uncertain future.”

There was no immediate way to independently verify the claim.

In a post on the social platform X in Farsi, the Israeli military provided a website and urged users to employ a virtual private network before attempting contact.

“Even those who identify themselves as members of the regime’s security institutions express their fear, despair, and anger at what is happening in Iran and ask us to contact Israeli authorities - so that Iran does not suffer the same fate as Lebanon and Gaza,” the message added.

The message did not elaborate. However, it comes as Iran is in a frenzy over spies, prompting warnings to officials to abandon certain devices, apps and web services.

The internet was down in Iran late Wednesday afternoon. Authorities offered no immediate explanation.