TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iranian police say 20 people were wounded when relatives of a man convicted to death on murder charges threw a grenade in an attempt to stop his execution.
According to a Monday report on the police website, police.ir, the incident took place at the gates of a prison in the western town of Ilam.
In Iran, capital punishment is most often carried out by hanging, usually inside prisons but sometimes also in public.
The police arrested the attackers and the execution was carried out. The wounded included policemen and spectators who came to see the hanging.
Murder, rape, armed robbery and kidnapping, along with drug trafficking, are all punishable by death in Iran. International rights groups have criticized Iran for its growing pace of hangings.
