Seven people convicted of armed robbery, murder and rape in southern Iran have been hanged, a semi-official news agency said today.

The report by Mehr said four of the convicts were hanged in public while the other three were executed at a local jail in the city of Shiraz.

The report said two other prisoners, convicted of armed robbery, are to be hanged in public later in the day. Mehr did not identify the convicts.

Murder, rape, armed robbery and kidnapping, along with drug trafficking, are all punishable by death in Iran.

International rights groups have criticised Iran for its growing pace of hangings, which are often carried out in public.

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