On Wednesday, September 24, the same day that President Hassan Rouhani sought to convince the world of his nation's dignity, responsible governance, and peacefulness, judicial authorities in Iran executed Mohsen Amir Aslani for heresy. A psychologist by training, a married man and a father, Amir Aslan held religious studies classes in his home, and was arrested by authorities for comments he made around the religious story of the Prophet Jonah, and his emergence from the belly of a whale. His case lingered in court for eight years before authorities finally carried out his sentence. Iran's judiciary routinely persecutes individuals for their privately held religous views, should they deviate from the strict interpretation of the world and religion perpeutated by the Islamic Republic.
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