An Iranian man who was convicted of raping and killing his 16-year-old nephew is to be executed by being thrown off a cliff in a sack, an Iranian newspaper has reported.

The killer was arrested last year in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, according to the main reformist newspaper Norouz.

The man, who was not named, was accused of seducing and killing his nephew, who worked as an assistant at his carpenter's workshop

Under Iran's Islamic law, the homosexual act alone is punishable by death, with a judge deciding the method of execution.

It is thought that if the man survives the fall down a rocky precipice, he will be hanged.

He has 20 days to appeal against the court sentence.

Other crimes punishable by death under Islamic law applied since the 1979 revolution in Iran include sexually abusing children and adultery.

Some activists complain that the media in Iran tend to portray homosexuals who have been arrested as rapists and paedophiles.

They say that there is as a result much ignorance about homosexuality, and that homosexuals are repressed by their family and relatives.