TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian woman was hanged Saturday for the murder of a man she said she had killed while defending herself from an attempted rape, according to Tehran prosecutors.

Rayhaneh Jabbari, 26, was executed in the Rajaiy Shahr prison in the town of Karaj, despite international pleas for amnesty. Officials at the Justice Ministry had sought to avoid the execution, partly because of the negative spotlight.

There was little authorities could do because of Iran’s Qisas law, which gives the closest relative of a murder victim the final say in the fate of the accused. Despite multiple pleas, the dead man’s family insisted that Jabbari not receive clemency.

Jabbari claimed that she had been hired in July 2007 to decorate a Tehran apartment. When she arrived to work, she said one of the men tried to rape her. She defended herself with a knife and killed him.

Investigators said they never found signs of attempted rape. They also said the man was stabbed from behind.