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Death sentence dropped against Iranian teen

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian court dropped a death sentence against a teenager accused of killing a man who allegedly tried to rape her, the teenager’s lawyer said yesterday.An Iranian court convicted and sentenced Nazanin Fatehi to death more than a year ago after she admitted stabbing to death one of three men who allegedly tried to rape her and a 16-year-old niece. Fatehi was 17 at the time.

Fatehi and her niece were in a park outside Tehran with their boyfriends when they were approached by the three men. The boys fled after the men pushed the girls to the ground. Fatehi drew a knife and stabbed one man in the arm and another in the chest, killing him.

In June, a court ordered her death sentence stayed and a new trial ordered. In the second trial, which began last Wednesday, the court decided the killing was not premeditated and did not warrant the death penalty.

Fatehi’s lawyer said he expected the court would sentence Fatehi — in accordance with Islamic law — to pay blood money to the family of the man.