Iran: Stop the Stoning

An NBC Evening News story on July 28, 2010 was a story of hope and justice that covered the effects of international pressure and online petitions from around the world on Iran as it bowed to pressure and promised it would not stone a woman to death who was convicted of adultery.

A very sad yet promising story, it showed portrait images of the 43 year-old mother of two interspersed with video clips from 1994 of individuals being partially buried prior to being stoned to death. The tone was very negative towards Iran for allowing stonings to still happen within its borders. Words such as torture and barbaricaccented the visual images, making for a very powerful story.

I believe the story originated from human rights organizations who raised international awareness and pressure to stop the planned stoning. This story and the expected outcome shows some of the power of public relations and the good that it can do. Iran could learn from this and do a lot to improve their image around the world.

I am sure that Iran is not pleased with having to back down to international pressure and my guess is having to do so will instill in them more hatred and they will retaliate against the world through other means that human decency would also despise.