Iran executes 20 drug traffickers

Iran has executed 20 people for drug trafficking, official media says.

The group - all convicted of buying, selling and possessing drugs - were hanged in a prison in Karaj, west of Tehran.

Over 700kg (1,540lb) of drugs including heroin, cocaine and opium had been seized from the group, all arrested in the last five years, the reports said.

Human rights groups say Iran executes more people than every country in the world apart from China.

It executed at least 346 people in 2008, Amnesty International said.

The Supreme Court had rejected appeals for clemency from the group executed on Saturday, who were aged between 35 and 48, Iranian news agencies said.

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