Tehran, August 02: Iran has hanged three men convicted of murder and drug trafficking in the central city of Isfahan, government newspaper Iran today reported.
The men executed in prison yesterday were identified as Babak, who was convicted of killing a man in 2003, Ghorban-Ali, 22, who had stabbed another young man to death and Hassan, 33, convicted of selling heroin.
The latest reported hangings bring to at least 192 the number of people executed in the Islamic republic so far this year, according to an AFP count based on news reports.
In 2008, Iran executed 246 people, second only to China.
Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain public security and only applied after exhaustive judicial proceedings. Murder, rape, armed robbery, drugs trafficking and adultery are all punishable by death in Iran.
–Agencies