Executions in Iran (Archive photo)
Photo: AFP
Report: Iran plans mass execution
Tehran's prosecutor office says, 'Thirty people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, illegal relationships will be executed on Sunday at dawn
Iran is planning a mass execution of 30 people convicted of murder and drug trafficking, a press report said on Saturday.
"Thirty people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, illegal relationships... will be executed on Sunday at dawn," the Aftab newspaper quoted Tehran's prosecutor office as saying.
It would the largest mass execution in the Islamic republic in recent years.
Human rights groups have accused Iran of making excessive use of the death penalty but Tehran insists it is an effective deterrent that is carried out only after an exhaustive judicial process.
Iran has so far hanged at least 126 in this year, according to an AFP count.
Amnesty International reported that in 2007 Iran applied the death penalty more often than any other country apart from China, executing 317 people during the year.
Capital offences in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery.
