Iran typifies Islamic justice, says chief judicial official

May 30, 2007

Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi said during a conference in Tehran that Iran is the only country with a judiciary based entirely on Islamic principles—from prosecution to punishment. He also paid tribute to the martyred Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti whom Shahroudi credited as the founder of Islamic judiciary in Iran.

The two-day conference included representatives from 56 Islamic states to discuss Islamic laws in the judicial system of the participating nations. He urged the guests to use Iran as a model to become familiar with the Islamic judiciary rules.

Ayatollah Shahroudi is an Iraqi-born naturalized citizen of Iran and has been the head of the judicial system of Iran since 1999 after his appointment by Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Shahroudi received the attention of the press as a reformer in 2002 after declaring a moratorium on stoning albeit it remains on law books and can still be applied. In fact, the moratorium reportedly ended according to the 2007 State Department report and people have been stoned for crimes like adultery in accordance with Islamic laws.