Iran hanged three drug traffickers, newspaper reports

Tehran: Iran has hanged three men, including an Afghan, convicted of drug trafficking in the central city of Isfahan, a newspaper reported.

The Iranian men, identified as Akbar Z., 33, and Hamid Reza H., 28, and the Afghan Shah S., 38, were hanged on Sunday in a prison in Isfahan, hardline newspaper Kayhan said.

The latest hangings bring the number of executions in Iran to at least 108 so far this year, according to an AFP count based on media reports. Last year, at least 270 people were hanged.

Iran says the death penalty is essential to maintain public security and is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are all punishable by death in the country.