Tehran, Oct 25 (IANS): An Iranian woman was executed Saturday in Iran after she was convicted of murdering a man seven years ago.

Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged in the early morning after being found guilty of killing Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, a former employee of Iran’s intelligence ministry, in July 2007, Press TV reported.

The 26-year-old woman has confessed to the murder claiming that she had stabbed the man to death to defend herself against attempted rape, but her claims were rejected based on further investigations and crime scene evidence.

Jabbari’s execution was halted earlier this month in order to give her lawyer more time to convince the victim's family to pardon her.

A message posted on the homepage of a Facebook campaign that was set up to try to save her, but which now states "Rest in Peace," appeared to confirm the report.

Under Islamic law, a convicted murderer is put to death if the victim's family demands execution.