Iran invents a machine to chop off fingers for crimes

The official FARS/ISNA news agency of Iran brags about Iran's latest invention - a machine that chops the fingers off of criminals.

It was unveiled Thursday with a live demonstration in Shiraz of the device chopping the fingers of an alleged thief and adulterer. (He is still getting lashes and jail time as well.)

American Thinker notes:

Contacted by FRANCE 24, the spokesperson for Iran Human Rights, Mahmoud Amiry-Moghaddam, who is based in Norway, explains: "What is surprising about this is that not only was this a public amputation, but that photos of it were distributed by official press agencies, and that they showed a machine that we had until yet never seen images of. We have noticed that the authorities have recently being making more and more publicity surrounding cases of corporal punishment. Every time we get closer to an election, the number of these incidents increases. And we're getting quite close to the presidential election [slated for June]. I believe this is a strategy to instil fear in the population so as to avoid any protests.

In other Iranian technology news, the nation claims to have successfully sent a Jew into space.

Oh, sorry - it was a monkey. Easy to make a mistake in that part of the world.

(h/t Al Gharqad, PTWatch)