Iran Hangs Four Convicted Murderers in Public

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran`s Sharia law.

Iran has hanged four convicted murderers in public in the southern province of Bushehr, an Iranian daily reported on Saturday.

Kargozaran newspaper said the four, including an Afghan national, were executed on Thursday morning in a square in Borazjan city after being convicted of murdering several people.

Iran's judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi in January ordered a halt to public executions in the Islamic Republic unless they had his approval, "based on social necessities." Executions are usually carried out in prisons.

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's Sharia law, enforced since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Amnesty International in April listed Iran as the world's second most prolific executioner last year, with at least 317 people put to death, trailing only China which carried out 470 death sentences.

Iran rejects accusations it is violating human rights and accuses the West of double standards and hypocrisy.