Iran hangs 20 drug traffickers in a day
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Iran has hanged 20 people for drug trafficking at a prison in a town near the capital, Tehran.
The semi-official Fars news agency said they had been arrested over the past five years.
More than 700 kilograms of drugs had been seized from them including heroin, cocaine and opium.
Observers say it is rare for such a large number of people to be executed in a single day in the Islamic republic.
But Iran maintains the death penalty is necessary for maintaining public security and is only applied after exhaustive judicial proceedings.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, drugs trafficking and adultery are all punishable by death in Iran.
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