Iran hangs three men convicted of drug trafficking

Human rights groups says Tehran executes more people a year than any other nation except China

People protesting outside Downing Street in London on Friday about the recent spate of executions in Iran. PA

Iran on Sunday executed three men charged with drug trafficking, the country's judiciary said, the latest of hundreds of people hanged in the country since the start of the year.

The three men were hanged after being convicted of "corruption on earth" for producing nearly 40kg of heroin, the judiciary's Mizan Online news website said.

They were described as members of a "drug cartel", but it did not elaborate.

The executions come one day after a man was hanged following a conviction over a human trafficking and prostitution ring.

On Friday, authorities executed three men for killing members of the security forces in November during protests triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.

There were waves of nationwide protests following the September 16 death of 22-year-old Amini, an Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the country's dress code for women.

During the protests, which Tehran described as foreign-instigated "riots", thousands of Iranians were arrested and hundreds killed, including dozens of security personnel.

Friday's executions were denounced by western countries and human rights groups based outside Iran.

Iran executes more people a year than any other nation except China, according to human rights groups including Amnesty International.

The country hanged 75 per cent more people last year than in the previous year, the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights and Paris-based Together Against the Death Penalty said in a joint report in April.

At least 582 people were executed in Iran last year, the highest number of executions in the country since 2015 and well above the 333 recorded in 2021, the two groups said.

But the pace of executions this year has been even higher so far, with Iran Human Rights now counting at least 260 executions since the start of the year.