Two boys, one aged 18 and one underage minor, were lashed 228 times before being hung by Iranian authorities in the northeastern city of Mashad. Within hours of the execution, Members of Iran’s parliament expressed outrage, not for the deaths of the two young men, identified only by the the initials A.M. and M.A., but at journalists who reported the ages of those who were put to death. According to Iran Focus News, one member of parliament was dismayed that the focus was on the age of the boys "[I]Instead of paying tribute to the action of the judiciary, the media are mentioning the age of the hanged criminals and creating a commotion that harms the interests of the state." According to the same report, Ali Asgari, an elected deputy, supported the hanging of the two, saying "Whatever sentence is decreed by an Islamic penal system must be approved, unless proven otherwise."
