Men executed for drug smuggling, armed robbery, in latest round of capital punishments in past few months.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFiran ayatollah khameini (photo credit: AP)
Iran hanged 21 men Wednesday in the latest round of group executions in the past few months, state media reported.
In northeastern Iran, 1,000 kilometers from Teheran and bordering Afghanistan, the source of much of the world's heroine, 17 convicted drug smugglers were hanged.
"After legal procedures, 17 individuals were hanged on the charges of drug smuggling in Khorasan Razavi province this morning," state television reported.
In a separate execution, four others were then hanged in southern city of Shiraz, some 800 kilometers south of Teheran.
"They were hanged on the charges of smuggling and armed robbery," state radio quoted Heidar Asiabi, the Shiraz prosecutor, as saying.
Over July and August, Iran hanged 21 other people on charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, which along with drug trafficking, are all capital offenses in Iran.
