17 drug smugglers hanged in Iran

Iran hanged 17 men today in the latest round of group executions, state media reported.

“After legal procedures, 17 individuals were hanged on the charges of drug smuggling in Khorasan Razavi province this morning,” state television reported.

The province borders Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, a major source of the world’s heroin, 625 miles east of the capital Tehran.

Over July and August, Iran hanged 21 other people on charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, which along with drug trafficking, are all capital offences in Iran.