Judges in the northwestern province of East Azerbaijan sentenced the four identified only as Hamid, Ebrahim, Mehdi and Mohammad after they were convicted of raping a man named as Hojat.

The sentence must also be approved by the state supreme court.

According to the daily the four denied the charge and said police had forced them to sign a fake confession.

"After the fight... police arrested Mohammad and me and forced us to confess. The officer said "write down what I tell you'," 17-year-old Mehdi was quoted as saying.

The verdicts were issued on the basis of "knowledge of the judge." Under Iran's Islamic penal code this rule allows a court to decide in a case.

"We had problems with the plaintiff and his family before and they filed a complaint against us. Now they have accused us," another convict, Hamid, said.

"The policeman asked me to admit responsibility and told me if I did that he would take care of the problem... so under pressure I wrote down everything he said and then inked it with my fingerprint," Hamid added.

The European Union and international human rights groups have urged Tehran to stop issuing the death penalty for crimes committed by minors.

The judiciary maintains that minors are not executed in the Islamic republic. Hweoever death sentences can be carried out after the convict reaches the age of 18.

Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery.

Iran's criminal code also states that sexual intercourse between men "is punishable by death" and men convicted of foreplay can be punished with 100 lashes and be executed on the fourth conviction.

Punishment for sex between women calls for similarly draconian penalities, including execution for successive convictions.

Human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death penalty, but Tehran insists it is an effective deterrent that is carried out only after an exhaustive judicial process.