Man hanged in public in south-east Iran

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Dec. 29 – Iranian authorities hanged a man in public in the restive province of Sistan-va-Baluchistan, south-east Iran, state media reported on Monday.

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Dec. 29 – Iranian authorities hanged a man in public in the restive province of Sistan-va-Baluchistan, south-east Iran, state media reported on Monday.

The report by the semi-official daily Kayhan identified the man as Abdol-Rahman Baluch Zehi. It did not say when the execution took place.

It quoted Colonel Mohammad-Reza Mortaz, a local commander of the state security forces, as saying that Baluch Zehi had killed two people in Nikshahr in October.

Iranian authorities routinely execute dissidents on bogus charges such as armed robbery and drug trafficking.

Sistan-va-Baluchistan Province is home to Baluchis, a predominantly Sunni Muslim ethnic minority.

Iran has witnessed escalating unrest since 2006 in areas populated by Baluchis, who complain of discriminatory and repressive policies by the theocratic regime.

Since 2006, Iranian authorities have stepped up executions in the restive province in what many Baluchis believe is a response to a spate of attacks by dissidents on government and security officials.