<p>An Iranian mother spared the life of her son's convicted murderer with an emotional slap in the face as he awaited execution with the noose around his neck, a newspaper reported today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The dramatic climax followed a rare public campaign to save the life of Balal, who at 19 killed another young man, Abdollah Hosseinzadeh, in a street fight with a knife back in 2007.<br /><br />Shargh newspaper said police officers led Balal to a public execution site in the northern city of Nowshahr as a large crowd gathering on Tuesday morning.<br /><br />Samereh Alinejad, mother of the victim who lost another son in a motorbike accident four years ago, asked the crowd whether they know "how difficult it is to live in an empty house."<br /><br />Balal, black-hooded and standing on a chair before a makeshift gallows, had the noose around his neck when Alinejad approached.<br /><br />She slapped him in the face and removed the rope from his neck assisted by her husband, Abdolghani Hosseinzadeh, a former professional footballer.<br /><br />"I am a believer. I had a dream in which my son told me that he was at peace and in a good place... After that, all my relatives, even my mother, put pressure on me to pardon the killer," Alinejad told Shargh.<br /><br />"The murderer was crying, asking for forgiveness. I slapped him in the face. That slap helped to calm me down," she said. "Now that I've forgiven him, I feel relieved."<br />Balal said the "slap was the space between revenge and forgiveness."<br /><br />"I've asked my friends not to carry knives... I wish someone had slapped me in the face when I wanted to carry one," Balal said in a television interview.<br /><br />A high-profile campaign was launched by public figures including Adel Ferdosipour, a popular football commentator and TV show host, and former international footballer Ali Daei, appealed for the victim's family to forgive the killer.<br /><br />According to the United Nations, more than 170 people have been executed in the Islamic republic since the beginning of 2014.<br /><br />Under the country's interpretation of Islamic sharia laws in force since a 1979 revolution, murder and several other crimes are punishable by death.<br /><br />But the victim's family has the right to spare a convict's life in return for blood money, under Islamic laws.<br /></p>
<p>An Iranian mother spared the life of her son's convicted murderer with an emotional slap in the face as he awaited execution with the noose around his neck, a newspaper reported today.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The dramatic climax followed a rare public campaign to save the life of Balal, who at 19 killed another young man, Abdollah Hosseinzadeh, in a street fight with a knife back in 2007.<br /><br />Shargh newspaper said police officers led Balal to a public execution site in the northern city of Nowshahr as a large crowd gathering on Tuesday morning.<br /><br />Samereh Alinejad, mother of the victim who lost another son in a motorbike accident four years ago, asked the crowd whether they know "how difficult it is to live in an empty house."<br /><br />Balal, black-hooded and standing on a chair before a makeshift gallows, had the noose around his neck when Alinejad approached.<br /><br />She slapped him in the face and removed the rope from his neck assisted by her husband, Abdolghani Hosseinzadeh, a former professional footballer.<br /><br />"I am a believer. I had a dream in which my son told me that he was at peace and in a good place... After that, all my relatives, even my mother, put pressure on me to pardon the killer," Alinejad told Shargh.<br /><br />"The murderer was crying, asking for forgiveness. I slapped him in the face. That slap helped to calm me down," she said. "Now that I've forgiven him, I feel relieved."<br />Balal said the "slap was the space between revenge and forgiveness."<br /><br />"I've asked my friends not to carry knives... I wish someone had slapped me in the face when I wanted to carry one," Balal said in a television interview.<br /><br />A high-profile campaign was launched by public figures including Adel Ferdosipour, a popular football commentator and TV show host, and former international footballer Ali Daei, appealed for the victim's family to forgive the killer.<br /><br />According to the United Nations, more than 170 people have been executed in the Islamic republic since the beginning of 2014.<br /><br />Under the country's interpretation of Islamic sharia laws in force since a 1979 revolution, murder and several other crimes are punishable by death.<br /><br />But the victim's family has the right to spare a convict's life in return for blood money, under Islamic laws.<br /></p>