Gays Should Be Tortured and Executed, Says Iranian Official

By Pamela Mortimer

Iranian leader Mohsen Yahyavi is the highest ranking politician to admit to the existence of a national policy which prohibits homosexual relationships. According to The Times, Yahyavi’s admission came during a private meeting at a peace conference. The conversation arose when Yahyavi was asked to comment on reports of the hanging of two gay youths.

Minutes taken by an official recorded the events of a May meeting between British and Iranian MPs at the Inter-Parliamentary Union. When the Britons raised the issue of the Asqari and Marhouni hangings, Mr Yahyavi, leader of the Iranian delegation and a member of his parliament’s energy committee, did not flinch. Yahyavi "explained that according to Islam gays and lesbianism were not permitted," the report states. "He said that if homosexual activity is in private there is no problem, but those in overt activity should be executed [he initially said tortured but changed it to executed]. He argued that homosexuality is against human nature and that humans are here to reproduce. Homosexuals do not reproduce."

Nicole Pichet, a researcher who also recorded events at the gathering, told The Times that the discussion began with British MPs discussing the hangings of the underage gay teens. Mr. Yahyavi responded by saying homosexuality was to blame for a lot of diseases including AIDS.

In a statement made yesterday, Ann Clwyd, the Labor MP and head of Britain’s delegation, said, "It is of great concern that these attitudes persist and we made it clear what we felt."

Two months ago, when President Ahmadinejad was questioned regarding the executions by students in New York, he dodged the issue and suggested that there are no gays in his country.

Britain regularly confronts Iranian officials about its gay hangings, stonings and executions of adulterers and other perceived moral criminals, according to papers belonging to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Citing the Freedom of Information Act, the FCO released papers to The Times about the death penalty being used in Iran for homosexuality, adultery and sex outside marriage.

A series of reports detail the executions of gays, including two underage boys whose public hanging was posted on the Internet. The executions have alarmed human rights campaigners.

Gay rights groups in Britain, such as Outrage!, accuse Iran of covering up the executions with bogus charges related to more serious crimes.

The latest execution involved a girl who was hanged in June in the town of Gorgan after becoming pregnant to her brother. The brother was absolved after expressing remorse for his actions. Brits said that this was a demonstration the unequal treatment of men and women in law and also breached Iran’s pledge to reserve the death penalty for the most serious crimes.

Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Nigeria are among the countries that impose the death penalty for homosexuality, according to the International Lesbian and Gay Association.