Paris: Iran's foreign minister insists that no final decision has been made about a woman who could be stoned to death for adultery, France's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, amid reports her execution was imminent.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a statement that he has spoken to his Iranian counterpart about Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, whose case has sparked an international outcry.
Kouchner says Manouchehr Mottaki assured him on Wednesday that a final verdict in Ashtiani's case has not been issued yet and that reports 'about her eventual execution don't correspond to reality'.
Iran has temporarily suspended the stoning verdict and suggested Ashtiani might be hanged instead.
Kouchner said France is 'very worried' about the case.
The International Committee against Stoning and International Commitee against Execution said in a statement this week that Iranian authorities had given the go-ahead for Ashtiani's execution, and that it could happen on Wednesday. The group would not provide details on where its information came from.
But its report raised alarm in western capitals. The EU's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, was 'deeply concerned' by the reports and 'demands that Iran halt the execution and convert her sentence', Ashton's office said in a statement.
Ashtiani was first convicted in May 2006 of having an 'illicit relationship' with two men after the death of her husband - for which a court in Tabriz sentenced her to 99 lashes. Later that year, she was also convicted of adultery, despite having retracted a confession, which she claims was made under duress.
Ashtiani's case has further elevated tensions between Iran and the West, already running high over suspicions about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.