Iran May Spare Woman Who Killed Would-Be Rapist

Iranian authorities may have decided not to execute Reyhaneh Jabbari, who has faced the gallows since 2009 after being convicted of killing a man she says tried to rape her, the LA Times reports. Authorities are working to commute the death sentence against the 26-year-old woman, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said yesterday, a move that hinges on consent from the family of victim Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi. Jabbari claims she stabbed the former Iranian Intelligence Ministry worker after he lured her to an abandoned building, drugged her, then attempted to rape her in 2007 when she was 19.

Regardless, Iran's justice minister told a semi-official news outlet that Jabbari's execution would be delayed 40 days. It's unclear whether Jabbari will spend more time in prison if she's spared execution. "God willing, I will get a pardon from the victim’s family and save her life" says Jabbari's attorney. A friend tells the Times that she is "very depressed and hopeless." (More Iran stories.)