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Relatives hurl grenade to stop Iran execution, wound 20

FILE -- An Iranian officer lashes a man, convicted of rape, at the northeastern city of Sabzevar, Iran, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013. Rape, like murder and treason, can be punished by the death sentence in Iran, but sometimes judges imposed a sentence of lashes before execution or imprisonment. AP Photo/Hossein Esmaeli

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian police say 20 people were wounded when relatives of a man convicted to death on murder charges threw a grenade in an attempt to stop his execution.

According to a Monday report on the police website, police.ir, the incident took place at the gates of a prison in the western town of Ilam.

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In Iran, capital punishment is most often carried out by hanging, usually inside prisons but sometimes also in public.

The police arrested the attackers and the execution was carried out. The wounded included policemen and spectators who came to see the hanging.

Murder, rape, armed robbery and kidnapping, along with drug trafficking, are all punishable by death in Iran. International rights groups have criticized Iran for its growing pace of hangings.

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