Dozens of young offenders face death penalty in Iran

But the group fears the official numbers could be higher after a UN report in 2014 claimed the number of juvenile offenders at risk of execution at more than 160.

The London-based group also found that Iran has executed at least 73 juvenile offenders between 2005 and 2015.

At least four were put to death last year alone.

The majority of them were convicted of murder, according to the 110-page document.

Others were executed for crimes including rape, drug-related crimes and national security offences such as "enmity” against God.

It comes as Tehran tries to rebuild relations with the West following last year's landmark nuclear deal.

The agreement came into force this month after Iran took steps to curb its nuclear programme, which lead to international sanctions being lifted.

Amnesty noted that reforms introduced in 2013 give judges more discretion to take into account young offenders' mental maturity and potentially impose softer punishments.

The Supreme Court has since said juvenile offenders facing execution could have their cases retried.

Additional reforms introduced last year also require cases involving juveniles to be heard in special juvenile courts.

However the group called for more to be done.

It said in a statement: ”Despite some juvenile justice reforms, Iran continues to lag behind the rest of the world, maintaining laws that permit girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 to be sentenced to death.”

Last October, the UN’s special investigator on the human rights situation in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, warned that executions in Iran have risen at an "exponential rate" since 2005 and could top 1,000 in 2015.

He said Iran puts more people to death per capita than any other country, adding that the majority of executions do not conform to international laws banning the death penalty for juveniles and non-violent offenders.

But head of Iran's Human Rights Council, Mohammad Javad Larijani, dismissed the UN report as "a collection of baseless accusations”.

Iran is one of the world's largest users of the death penalty, ranking second behind China in 2014, according to the most recent figures from Amnesty.

Most executions overall in Iran are carried out for drug smuggling.

The country straddles a major narcotics trafficking route linking opium-producing fields in Afghanistan to Europe.

(dailystar.co.uk)