January 22, 2009

TEHRAN – Iran hanged 22 convicted criminals in mass executions on Tuesday and Wednesday in Tehran and a few other cities, official news media reported.

Iran has the highest number of executions in the world after China. Crimes like murder, drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and adultery are punished by execution.

The state-run television news reported Thursday that 10 men were hanged in Tehran’s Evin prison on Wednesday. The semi-official Fars news agency reported that an 11th man, scheduled to be executed in February, witnessed the hanging of the 10.

The Iranian news accounts said the convicts included a drug addict who murdered his aunt, and a robber who killed a cabdriver.

Fars also reported that six men convicted of murder and drug trafficking were hanged on Tuesday in the central city of Yazd. Three more men were hanged in Yazd on Wednesday, the ISNA Student News Agency reported.

The government-run daily newspaper Iran reported that a drug smuggler identified only by his first name, Gholam, was hanged on Tuesday in the city of Kardj.

And two men also identified by their first names, Mohammad, 41, and Reza, 34, were hanged Tuesday in the central city of Isfahan.