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Summary Iran has hanged two convicted drug traffickers in the eastern city of Zabol and another in Qom.
Iran has hanged two convicted drug traffickers in the eastern city of Zabol and another in the shrine city of Qom, local media reported Thursday.Two men were sent to the gallows in Zabol, the state television website said, without specifying if the hangings had been carried out in public or in prison.The third man had been hanged on Wednesday in a prison in Qom, south of Tehran, the government-run Iran newspaper reported without giving any more details.Along with China, Saudi Arabia and the United States, Iran has one of the highest numbers of executions each year.The latest hangings bring to 206 the number of executions reported in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.Iranian media reported 179 hangings last year but international human rights groups say the actual number was much higher, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people it executed in 2010.Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.
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