The Iranian woman Shahla Jahed is at imminent risk of execution- Execution order sent to the prison

Her case received broad national and international attention and her verdict was halted by teh Supreme court in 2008. Earlier this year she wrote a letter to Larijani, head of the judiciary, were she asked for a final decision.

Now that Larijani has sent the execution order to the prison, she can be executed at any time unless the family of the offended pardon her.

Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson of Iran Human Rights, urged the international community to help stop Shahla’s execution. He said: "If the international community doesn’t react, Shahla Jahed will be yet another victim of the Iranian regime’s death penalty machine". He added: "We condemn the execution verdic regardless of whether Shahla Jahed is innocent or not. We have all the reason to believe that she has been tortured in order to confess to the offence".

Background inromation from Amnesty International: Shahla Jahed was a "temporary" wife of Nasser Mohammad-Khani, a former striker for the Iranian national football team and former manager of a team in Tehran. According to press reports, Shahla Jahed was originally sentenced to death by hanging in 2004 for stabbing to death Laleh Saharkhizan, Nasser Mohammad-Khani’s "permanent" wife. Under Iranian law, men and women can have both "permanent" and "temporary" marriages. In a temporary marriage, men and women can commit to be married for a certain period of time, after which the marriage is null and void.

The prosecution reportedly claimed that Shahla Jahed had murdered Laleh Saharkhizan out of jealousy. Nasser Mohammad-Khani was himself initially suspected of complicity in the murder and jailed for some months, but was reportedly released.

Shahla Jahed is said to have confessed to the murder during the initial investigation, but during her trial consistently upheld her innocence.