An Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery could be hanged instead, student news agency ISNA has reported.

A court sentenced Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to be stoned in 2006 but the sentence was suspended last year after an international outcry. However, under a judicial review being carried out, she still could be hanged.

"There is no rush... our Islamic experts are reviewing Ashtiani's sentence to see whether we can carry out the execution of a person sentenced to stoning by hanging," said Malek Ajdar Sharifi, head of judiciary in the East Azerbaijan province.

Ashtiani's husband was murdered in 2005, after which an Iranian court convicted the mother of two of having an "illicit relationship" with two men. For this, she was given a stoning sentence in 2006.

Amnesty International says she received 99 lashes as her sentence but she was subsequently convicted of "adultery while being married", which the human rights group says she denied.

Ashtiani, arrested in 2006, is already serving 10 years for being an accessory to her husband's murder in a prison in the East Azerbaijan.

A local judiciary official said last year that the stoning of Ashtiani had been suspended due to "humanitarian reservations", but did not rule out possibility of her execution.

"The sentence of Ashtiani will be carried out as soon as our experts announce their view," the official said.

Under Islamic law in force in Iran since the 1979 revolution, adultery may be punished by death by stoning and crimes such as murder, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by hanging.

Reuters