(REUTERS)

An Iranian woman convicted of murdering an alleged rapist as a teenager is set to be hanged on Wednesday unless she wins forgiveness from the victim’s relatives, an Iranian news agency reported on Tuesday.

Reyhaneh Jabbari, 26, was sentenced to death for stabbing dead a man seven years ago who she says tried to rape her. She has been detained since her arrest and repeated appeals have failed.

Jabbari said she acted in self-defense, but Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.

Her case has prompted an international outcry, with the United States and European Union demanding her sentence be repealed.

The semi-official Mehr News said a 10-day deadline issued for the woman to try to win forgiveness from the victim’s relatives was due to expire on Wednesday morning.

However, Justice Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi said on Monday he hoped “for a good ending to the case”.

“We have issued a deadline and God willing we hope forgiveness will be granted and there will be a good ending to the case,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA