IRANIAN Kurdish political prisoner Ramin Hossein Panahi has received a last-minute stay of execution, his lawyer revealed on Wednesday evening.

Mr Panahi was due to be executed today, but Iranian authorities temporarily paused proceedings against the Kurdish activist.

He had been handed the death penalty by a court in January after being found guilty of “acting against national security” and is accused of membership of the Kurdish opposition group Komala.

However his lawyer Hossein Ahmadi Niaz said: “Ramin is not a political person. He has never been involved in the crimes which they allege.”

Amnesty International claimed Mr Panahi had been subjected to torture by the Iranian government and doubted he had received a fair trial. The human rights group called on Iran to cancel the death penalty.

Mr Niaz fears that Iran may still go ahead with the execution of Mr Panahi, but he confirmed he is still working to have the sentence commuted as “Ramin is not a criminal, he is a child of Iran, a child of Kurdistan.”