The lawyer of a woman at the centre of an international outcry after she was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran is in Turkey and has the option of applying for asylum, the UN’s refugee agency said today.

Iran hanged a juvenile female offender after six years in prison following a conviction for murder, her lawyer said today.

Iran today announced a new judicial directive that bans the execution of child offenders for drug crimes but keeps capital punishment for those convicted of murder.