An Iranian man condemned to the gallows for murdering a policeman has been pardoned by the victim's family and his life saved only moments before he was about to die, the Mehr news agency reports.

"Relatives cried out their pardon after the murderer had already been hanging for a few seconds," the agency said, publishing a photo of people grabbing the man and holding him until they could remove the noose from around his neck.

The aborted execution took place in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

Under Iranian law, the family of a victim is entitled to pardon a criminal and save him from execution. In such cases, a murderer must pay blood money currently set at $35,575 and serve a prison sentence.

AFP