Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jun. 14 Iranian authorities hanged two men in the restive province of Sistan-va-Baluchistan, south-east Iran, the official news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday. Iran Focus
Tehran, Iran, Jun. 14 Iranian authorities hanged two men in the restive province of Sistan-va-Baluchistan, south-east Iran, the official news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday.
The pair, whose names were not given, were hanged in the city of Zahedan so that divine punishment could be administered and in order to create lasting security in the region, the provincial justice department announced in a statement.
They were accused of kidnapping and hostage taking.
Iran has witnessed escalating unrest in recent months in areas populated by Baluchis, who complain of discriminatory and repressive policies by the theocratic regime.
A Baluchi group opposed to the government of Iran calling itself Jondollah has claimed responsibility for a string of armed attacks on government officials including an ambush in March on a government convoy, which left twenty-two security and provincial officials dead and at least seven, including the governor of the city of Zahedan, critically wounded.