Iran hanged 17 men on Wednesday in the latest round of group executions over the past few months, state media reported.
"After legal procedures, 17 individuals were hanged on the charges of drug smuggling in Khorasan Razavi province this morning," state television
reported.
The province borders Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, a major source of the world's heroine, some 1,000 kilometers east of the capital Tehran.
Over July and August, Iran hanged 21 other people on charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping, which along with drug trafficking, are all capital offenses in Iran.