TEHRAN, 6 September 2007 — Iran yesterday hanged 21 convicted drug smugglers and other criminals, Iranian media said, the latest of a series of executions that have been criticized by European governments and Western rights groups. The number of executions in Iran, many in public, has risen since July with the launch of a summer crackdown on “immoral behavior.” Police have arrested dozens of drug addicts, smugglers, rapists and murderers.
At least 56 people have been hanged since mid-July, according to a count based on Iranian media reports. Seventeen drug smugglers were executed in the eastern province of Khorasan Razavi yesterday, the website of state broadcaster IRIB said. Iran’s eastern border areas are notorious for clashes between drug traffickers and security forces.
A police spokesman said: “They were hanged this morning after all legal procedures were carried out,” IRIB said. Four other offenders were put to death in public in the southern city of Shiraz after being convicted of banditry, smuggling and other crimes, the Fars News Agency said.
In Shiraz, a big crowd watched the hangings, Fars reported, adding that onlookers said executions should continue until “all criminal activities had ended” in the area. A provincial official said one criminal or smuggler had been executed each week in southerly Fars province since the start of the Iranian year on March 21.
