Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni

Mahmoud Asgari (Persian: محمود عسگری), and Ayaz Marhoni (Persian: عیاض مرهونی), were Iranian teenagers from the province of Khorasan who were publicly hanged on July 19, 2005. Iranian officials say the teenagers were executed for raping a 13-year-old boy, while gay rights groups claim they were executed for "being homosexual". The case attracted international media attention and the facts of the case are heavily debated.