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Saman Naseem, now 22, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday despite Iran signing international treaties prohibiting the death penalty for crimes committed while an offender is a juvenile. Photograph: Private

Human rights activists have urged Iran to halt the imminent execution of a young man convicted of taking up arms against the state when he was under 18.

Saman Naseem, now 22, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday after being found guilty of moharebeh (enmity against God) for his alleged membership of PJAK, an armed Kurdish opposition group, and alleged involvement in a gun battle with Irans Revolutionary Guards near Sardasht, a city in West Azerbaijan province.

Naseem, who was 17 at the time of his arrest in July 2011, appeared on Irans state television later that year, saying he had shot at members of the elite military unit. He is being held in Orumiyeh prison in north-west Iran.

Activists said Naseem retracted his confession during his trial and that it was made under duress. Iran has signed the international treaties which prohibit the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when they were juveniles.

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty Internationals deputy director for Middle East and North Africa, called on Iran on Monday to halt the planned execution of Naseem and launch a thorough review of his case.

Imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child when the alleged crime took place goes against international human rights laws that Iran has committed to respect, she said.

This is the reality of the criminal justice system in Iran, which makes a mockery of its own statements that it does not execute children and upholds its obligations under the convention on the rights of the child.

Irans penal code prohibits death penalty for juveniles for offences whose punishment can be administered at the discretion of the judge, such as drug offences. But a death sentence may still be applied if he or she has committed crimes considered to be claims of God and, therefore, have mandatory sentences such as moharebeh, sodomy, rape, theft.

Last week, Amnesty published a letter written by Naseem and sent out of jail, in which he describes in distressing detail his time in prison.

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TEL AVIV Mistrust between the Obama administration and Benjamin Netanyahu has widened even further in recent days because of U.S. suspicion that the Israeli prime minister has authorized leaks of details about the U.S. nuclear talks with Iran.

The decision to reduce the exchange of sensitive information about the Iran talks was prompted by concerns that Netanyahus office had given Israeli journalists sensitive details of the U.S. position, including a U.S. offer to allow Iran to enrich uranium with 6,500 or more centrifuges as part of a final deal.

Obama administration officials believed these reports were misleading because the centrifuge numbers are part of a package that includes the size of the Iranian nuclear stockpile and the type of centrifuges that are allowed to operate. A deal that allowed 500 advanced centrifuges and a large stockpile of enriched uranium might put Iran closer to making a bomb than one that permitted 10,000 older machines and a small stockpile, the administration argues.

An initial report Sunday by Israels Channel 2 news that the administration had cut all communications with Israel about the Iran talks was denied by White House spokesman Alistair Baskey. Sources here said that Philip Gordon, the Middle East director for President Obamas National Security Council, would see Israeli national security adviser Yossi Cohen and other senior officials on Monday. The discussion would include Iran policy, but U.S. officials arent likely to share the latest information about U.S. strategy in the talks.

President Obama says not meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March is standard protocol for foreign leaders running in an election. (Reuters)

This latest breach in the U.S.-Israeli relationship began around Jan. 12 with a phone call from Netanyahu. Obama asked the Israeli leader to hold fire diplomatically for several more months while U.S. negotiators explored whether Iran might agree to a deal that, through its technical limits on centrifuges and stockpiles, extended the breakout period that Iran would need to build a bomb to more than a year. But Netanyahu is said to have responded that a year wasnt enough and to have reverted to Israels hard-line insistence that Iran shouldnt be allowed any centrifuges or enrichment.

Obama was concerned because the United States had shared with Israel its goal of a one-year breakout period since the beginning of the talks. The White House saw Netanyahus comment as a change, one that could potentially scuttle the negotiations. The Israeli response is that Netanyahu has always argued for zero enrichment.

Relations began to unravel quickly after the phone call. On Jan. 21, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) invited Netanyahu to address Congress and share his concerns about the talks. The invitation hadnt been pre-negotiated with the White House, as is usually the case when foreign leaders are invited to address Congress.

Then came the alleged leaks about the nuclear talks. On Jan. 31, the Times of Israel reported that an unnamed senior Israeli official had told Channel 10 TV news that the United States was ready to allow more than 7,000 centrifuges and had agreed to 80 percent of Irans demands. Channel 2 reported that the U.S. offer was 6,500 centrifuges. U.S. officials believed that Netanyahus office was the source of these reports and concluded that they couldnt be as transparent as before with the Israel leader about the secret talks.

Asked for comment, an official in Netanyahus office said: The details of the last round of negotiations are known in Washington, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Berlin and Tehran. It is perplexing that a decision would be made to try to keep those details a secret from Jerusalem when Israel is threatened by Iran with annihilation and its very survival could be threatened by a bad deal.

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A perfect storm brews in the Middle East - The Washington Post

In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to a gathering of senior officials in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 27, 2014. AP/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's supreme leader has criticized the film "American Sniper," saying the movie about a U.S. soldier fighting in Iraq encourages violence against Muslims, a state-run newspaper reported Tuesday.

The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published in the daily IRAN Farsi newspaper, come amid renewed criticism of the West by the leader as his country negotiates with world powers over its contested nuclear program.

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The newspaper quoted Khamenei as saying he hadn't watched the film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper, but had heard about its plot from others. The film focuses on the life of U.S. Navy SEAL marksman Chris Kyle, who with 160 confirmed kills is considered the most lethal sniper in American military history.

"The movie 'Sniper' that is made by Hollywood encourages a Christian or non-Muslim youngster to harass and offend the Muslims as far as they could," the newspaper quoted Khamenei as saying.

Khamenei also reportedly discussed neo-Nazis attacking Muslims in Germany, saying Muslims have no safety in the West.

"You are seeing what sort of propaganda there are against Muslims in Europe and the U.S.," he reportedly said.

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