Iran hangs three men in public

Tehran - Iranian authorities hanged three men in public yesterday, bringing the total number of executions over the past two …

Tehran - Iranian authorities hanged three men in public yesterday, bringing the total number of executions over the past two days to 10, the official IRNA news agency said.

The men, convicted on multiple counts of armed robbery, were hanged on orders of the Revolutionary Court in Semnan. A fourth man was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

On Wednesday, Iranian police fired tear gas into a crowd in southeast Tehran after scuffles erupted at another public execution.

The scene turned violent as people among the 2,000-strong crowd threw sticks and stones to try to prevent authorities from hanging Vali Hezar-Asb, convicted of a fatal stabbing last year. Security guards seized the cameras of news photographers and beat up reporters at the execution site on a soccer ground.