IRAN. FOUR HANGED FOR MURDER

Iran has recently hanged four men convicted of murder in different cities. Two men, identified only as Mojtaba and Mohammad-Hossein, were hanged in public on January 9 for two separate murders in the southern city of Jahrom, the Iran newspaper reported.
Mojtaba, described as the head of a criminal gang, had killed two private taxi drivers, identified only as Gholam-Reza and Majid, after taking rides in the outskirts of the city as passengers with four other members of his gang.
The second man had killed the 18-year-old Jamal in a street fight, the newspaper said.
The Jomhouri Eslami newspaper reported that two murderers were hanged on January 8 in the northern city of Tonkabon.
Mohammad Reza Sadeghirad was found guilty of murdering Shahram Shoja in July 2006 and Ali Kord-Roudgarmi was convicted of stabbing to death Hossein Mohaghegh in 2005, it said.
Iran currently makes more use of the death penalty than any other country apart from China. Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, serious drug trafficking and adultery.