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Iran hangs woman convicted of murdering a man she said was trying to rape her

Associated Press
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In this picture taken on Dec. 15, 2008, Iranian Reyhaneh Jabbari, center, sits while attending her trial in a court in Tehran, Iran. Jabbari was hanged on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014, who was convicted of murdering a man she said was trying to rape her, the official IRNA news agency reported. (AP Photo/Golara Sajjadian) (The Associated Press)

In this picture taken on July 8, 2007, Iranian Reyhaneh Jabbari stands handcuffed in a police office in Tehran, Iran. Jabbari was hanged on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014, who was convicted of murdering a man she said was trying to rape her, the official IRNA news agency reported. (AP Photo/Golara Sajjadian) (The Associated Press)

Iran has hanged a woman convicted of murdering a man she said was trying to rape her.

The official IRNA news agency says Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged at dawn Saturday for premeditated murder. It quoted the court ruling as rejecting the claim of attempted rape and saying all evidence proved that Jabbari had plotted to kill Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former intelligence agent.

The court ruling says Jabbari, 27, stabbed Sarbandi in the back in 2007 after purchasing a knife two days earlier.

The execution was carried out after Sarbandi's family refused to pardon Jabbari or accept blood money.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups had called on Iran's judiciary to halt the execution.