A woman who defended herself against rape was hanged this week in Iran, according to the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Somayyeh Shahbazi Jahrouii, 33, had been imprisoned for six years. She had committed murder in self-defense against rape, according to her relatives.

Somayyeh Shahbazi Jahrouii was hanged at dawn on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, in Sepidar Prison of Ahvaz, capital of Khuzestan Province.

Her death brings to 98 the number of women executed by Iran’s regime since Hassan Rouhani took office as President in 2013.

Iran’s regime is the world’s top executioner of women. So far in 2019, it has executed at least 11 women, more than it had done in previous years. It had executed at least six women in 2018, 10 in 2017 and nine in 2016.

The regime has executed at least 4000 people under Rouhani.

Because of the regime’s failure to categorize deliberate murders according to their degree, anyone convicted of murder in Iran is sentenced to death, regardless of their motives. Many of the women convicted of murder in Iran are themselves victims of violence against women and have committed the murders in self-defense.

Women are playing a leading role in the latest Iran protests calling for regime change. The regime is carrying out a major crackdown to stifle the protests which began in mid-November. At least 1000 protesters have been killed, while another 4000 have been injured and 12000 have been arrested, according to information collated by the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), or Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK).

The NCRI has identified at least 24 women among protesters who have been killed by the regime.

In many instances, the regime has used machine guns, helicopters, and tanks to clamp down on protesters.

In a message to the Iranian nation this week, Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi said women are a force for change and will defeat the mullahs’ reactionary dictatorship.

“Iran’s cities are rising up one after the other and everywhere; women actively participate, leading and supporting the protesters. We had already said that women are the force for change and will defeat the mullahs’ reactionary and religious tyranny.”

“The arisen women of Iran have come to the battlefield to bring down the regime,” said Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI.

Source » ncr-iran