A Saudi man was beheaded by the sword in Medina today after being sentenced to death for raping a Saudi woman, the interior ministry announced.

Abdullah al-Mohammadi was convicted for attacking the woman while drunk, raping her and stealing mobile phones, according to the announcement carried by the official SPA news agency.

The beheading brings to 18 the number of executions reported in the Gulf kingdom this year, according to an AFP count.

In 2009, there were 67 reported executions in Saudi Arabia, compared with 102 in 2008.

Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

Iran hangs drug traffickers

Meanwhile Iran said it had hanged two men convicted of drug trafficking and another found guilty of murder, in a prison in the southwestern city of Ahvaz.

The men were only identified in the report by their initials as A. Gh., S.F., Gh. J.

The latest hangings bring the number of executions in Iran to at least 113 this year, according to an AFP count based on media reports. Last year, at least 270 people were hanged.

Iran says the death penalty is essential to maintain public security and is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

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