(CNN) -- Brazil formalized its offer of asylum to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning, state-run media said Tuesday.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had made a previous offer for asylum, raising Ashtiani's hopes for survival. Brazil's ambassador in Tehran has now officially made the offer at Iran's foreign ministry, according to the state-run news service Agencia Brasil.
Iran rejected the previous, informal offer, saying Lula lacked sufficient information about the case.
Last month, Malek Ajdar Sharifi, who is the head of the judiciary of East Azerbaijan province, said Ashtiani's crimes were "numerous" and said she was "convicted of adultery and murder and was sentenced to death," according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Ashtiani's lawyers said Iranian authorities are mischaracterizing the status of the adultery and murder charges against her. Attorney Hootan Kian said even though Ashtiani was cleared of her husband's murder five years ago, Iran continues to insist she was found guilty.
Ashtiani has said she was "grateful" for Brazil's offer and would "graciously" accept, according to a statement from her son, Sajjad Ashtiani, who has been to visit his mother in a Tabriz prison.
Ashtiani, 43, was convicted of adultery in 2006 and was originally sentenced to death by stoning but after international pressure, Iranian authorities said the sentence has been put on hold. CNN
