According to Amnesty International's 2013 report on the death penalty, Iran is only one of four countries -- including Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and North Korea -- that continues to stage public executions. Though there is dubious legal or religious justification for this practice, Iranian officials have disparage critics of public hanging as “Western-educated” and have argued that the practice “increases people’s sense of security.” Recently the people of Shiraz staged a campaign refusing to attend a public execution. Why do you think the Iranian government continues to stage public executions?
