Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni were executed on July 19, 2005, in Edalat (Justice) Square in Mashhad, northeast Iran, after being convicted by the court of having raped a 13-year-old boy.
The gay-rights group, OutRage!, led by Peter Tatchell, published its own free translation of the article on July 21, suggesting that the two had been executed for engaging in consensual homosexual sex.
Iran Focus, a news website that is widely regarded as an affiliate of the People's Mojahedin, also published an article about the hangings, mentioning no charges at all.
[10] On July 22, 2005, Amnesty International issued a news release saying: "According to reports, they were convicted of sexual assault on a 13-year-old boy and had been detained 14 months ago.
It stated that the two "were put to death on July 19 after they were found guilty of sexually assaulting a thirteen-year-old boy some fourteen months earlier," but did not address whether those charges were accurate.
Its public statement noted: "Death is an inhumane punishment, particularly for someone under eighteen at the time of his crimes," said Hadi Ghaemi, Iran researcher for Human Rights Watch.
"[12]In Tehran, Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi decried the imposition of the death penalty on minors but did not comment on the nature of the charges in this case.
I have to stuff myself back in the closet – something I thought I left a decade ago – but our war on terror trumps my personal comfort at this point.
The article concluded that, given Tatchell's "recent statements, it seems likely that his ideological disposition caused him to look past or dismiss information that cast doubt on the 'gay teenagers' story.
"[7] Faisal Alam, founder of the lesbian and gay Muslim group Al-Fatiha Foundation, published an opinion piece claiming that: "Very few people took the time to research the details of the case or even consult with experts who deal with such news on a daily basis.
is appalled that large sections of liberal and left opinion in the West shows little concern regarding the murderous brutality of the clerical fascist regime in Tehran.
and blogger Doug Ireland cited sources inside Iran to support their continuing assertion that Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni were hanged solely for being gay.
According to OutRage!, Jama has told them that he has spoken to three people from Mashhad who maintain that Mahmoud Asgari, Ayaz Marhoni, and five other friends were originally accused of committing consensual homosexual acts on each other.
[10] Long also criticised Doug Ireland for "deeply irresponsible" reporting by accepting second-hand claims from Iranian exile groups without confirmation.
"[17] Ettelbrick has also said she was also disturbed by the charged language used by some gay rights groups to condemn the execution, pointing to Peter Tatchell's statement, "This is just the latest barbarity by the Islamo-fascists in Iran.
"[17] Both Sweden and The Netherlands responded to the stories around the Mashhad executions by announcing that they would immediately halt extraditions of LGBT asylum claimants to Iran.
[26] Under parliamentary pressure, and based on evidence from groups including Human Rights Watch that torture of gays in Iran remained endemic, she was forced to extend the moratorium on deportation for a further six months.
[27] In late 2006, also due to lobbying from groups including Human Rights Watch, the Netherlands instituted a new policy of removing the burden of proof from Iranian LGBT refugee claimants.
'"[29] In 2006, the one-year anniversary of the hangings in Mashhad was designated an International Day of Action Against Homophobic Persecution in Iran by OutRage!, with vigils planned for Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Frankfurt, London, Marseille, Mexico City, Moscow, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Stockholm, Toronto, Vancouver, Vienna, Warsaw, Washington, D.C., and other cities and with hearings planned in the British House of Commons.
[32] A photograph of the teens' execution has been used for various purposes: Dutch right-wing political figure Geert Wilders used it in his short film Fitna as a warning of what would happen to gays in a dystopian future in which Muslims rule the Netherlands,[10]: 127, 131 and it has been misrepresented in social media as Palestinians rather than Iranians hanging homosexuals.
[36]: 260–261 Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was shown the photograph during a 2008 interview and was asked if he thought "gay men and lesbians should die in Iran?"
[38] Philip Kennicott, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism,[40] wrote in The Washington Post that "perhaps the saddest thing about these pictures is that no major news organization outside Iran has tracked down what really happened.