Executions Iran

A firing squad in a Tehran prison Monday at dawn executed the clergyman responsible for revealing a secret trip to Tehran by former U.S. national security adviser Robert C. McFarlane and U.S. arms sales to Iran. Mehdi Hashemi, the former right-hand man of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's chosen successor, died a victim of the power struggle in Iran's divided hierarchy. His execution, for treason, indicates that "pragmatist" leaders who want to end Iran's isolation have gained the upper hand.

Thousands of people have been hanged, shot or stoned to death in Iran since the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, Amnesty International said today. The human rights organization said it has received reports of executions of children as young as 11 years old.

A U.N. report released Thursday says at least 7,000 people were executed in Iran between 1979 and 1985 and cites allegations that torture in the country continues to be widespread. But the report, compiled by Reynaldo Galindo Pohl of El Salvador for the 43-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission, notes a "certain (positive) evolution in the situation of human rights" in Iran.