Iran debates method of woman's execution

Iranian officials say a woman sentenced to die for adultery will be executed but the method -- stoning or hanging -- is being debated, Iranian media reports. "This lady is accused of two crimes," the semi-official Iran Student's News Agency reported Hojatoleslam Sharifi, the judiciary chief of Eastern Azarbaijan province, as saying Monday. "One is adultery which is punishable by stoning to death, and the other is assisting in her husband's murder. She is currently serving 10 years for helping to kill her husband," Sharifi said. The death ruling against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani drew international condemnation, CNN reported Monday. Ashtiani was convicted of adultery in 2006, and later convicted as an accessory to murder in her husband's death, CNN reported. Sharifi said, "We did not have the needed facility for stoning," so officials asked the judiciary for advice. Sharafi said Ayatollah Amoli Larijani, the head of the Iranian judiciary, "is of the opinion that since the objective is execution, and since stoning is not practical, the execution should be done by hanging," CNN reported. "However, [Larijiani] has decided to wait for now and discuss the issue with other Islamic scholars until a clear and accurate decision is reached," Sharafi said. European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton has demanded Iran stop the execution, and British Foreign Minister William Hague has called the proposed stoning a "barbaric punishment."