Iran hangs 22 people

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 22 – Iranian authorities hanged 22 people over the past two days.

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jan. 22 – Iranian authorities hanged 22 people over the past two days.

Ten people were mass executed on Wednesday in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, the state-run news agency Fars reported, adding that an eleventh man had his execution postponed for a month. It said that he witnessed the other 10 people being hanged. He is expected to be hanged in February.

In a separate report on Wednesday Fars said that six people were executed in a prison in Yazd Province on Tuesday. Their charges included murder and drug trafficking.

Three men, identified only by their first names Alireza, Hassan and Mohammad-Hassan, were hanged in the Yazd prison on Wednesday, the government-run news agency ISNA reported.

In the central province of Isfahan, two men, identified as Jan Mohammad M., 41; and Reza M., 34, were hanged in prison on Tuesday, Fars said.

The official state daily "Iran" wrote on Wednesday that a man identified only by his first name Gholam was hanged on Tuesday in a prison in the north-western city of Karaj. He too was accused of drug trafficking.

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