IRAN. MASS EXECUTION IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC

Iran hanged 29 people at dawn after they had been convicted of murder, drug trafficking and other crimes, state run television reported. All were hanged inside Evin prison, north of the capital. Not all of the men’s names were released, the names released included Ali Reza Chubdari Fard, Abdolreza Shah Bakhsh, Shiragha Tajik, Mohammad Khalegh Dadi, Sohrab Kamal Zehi, Ali Rushian, Morteza Chardavali, Assadollah Naghdi Pari and Hossein Mirzai.
The hangings were carried out after the death sentences were ratified by Iran's Supreme Court, the television report said. A separate report on the television station's web site quoted Tehran Chief Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi as saying the men had records of repeated crimes, including rape, armed robbery and murder. The web site also said some of the convicts had "smuggled thousands of kilograms of various kinds of narcotics" in and out of Iran.