Iran Stoning Woman to Receive 99 Lashes

Iranian authorities ordered Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani—who earlier this year was sentenced to death by stoning for allegedly committing adultery—to receive a whipping for a photo that appeared in the Times of London newspaper in which she was captured without her headscarf. The Times initially identified the woman in the photo as Ashtiani but then ran a correction stating that they had mistakenly identified her and that the photo was of a different woman. Ashtiani will receive 99 lashes for purportedly appearing in the photo without her hijab, reports BBC News. Her son Sajad Ghaderzadeh said that the lashing punishment is "an excuse to increase [the authorities'] harassment of our mother." Ghaderzadeh has appealed to the Vatican to intervene in her mother's death sentence, which was temporarily halted in July following an international outcry. The Vatican issued its first public comment on the case today, calling the punishment "brutal" in an official statement. A Vatican spokesperson said no formal appeal has reached the Vatican but they are "following the case with attention and interest."