17 year old Mehdi Pouran along with 3 other young boys (Hamid Taaghi, Ebrahim Hamidi, Mohammad Rezai) were sentenced to death for alleged homosexual act in May 2008.  All 4 boys have denied the charge by the plaintiffs and claim that they have made up the story because of the argument that had after they got in to fight with the boys because the plaintiffs were vandalizing the agricultural land of Mohammad Rezai's father. According to the boys later the local police in few occasions tried to obtain their confession by beating and torture which they still refused. 

The boys who were released on bail after one month imprisonment appeared at the 2nd branch of Penal court of Northern city of Tabriz in Eastern Azerbaijan province. According to their new attorney, Mohammad Mostafaei, three family members of the complainant falsely testified in the court.

The death sentences were ordered on July 20, 2008 by the Islamic judges based on Iran's Sharia Law which allows such sentencing without sufficient proof or witnesses but only based on "'Judges understanding" (Elme Ghazi) of the case!