Five drug traffickers were hanged Tuesday in north-eastern Iran after being convicted of dealing with several kinds of drugs, the state news agency IRNA informed.

After their death sentence was given by the Supreme Court, the traffickers were hanged in Birjand city, located in the north of the middle-eastern Islamic country.

Specialists estimate that more than 200 convicts have reportedly been executed in Iran for various charges. The most common method in the region is public hanging. The crimes which will get anybody executed and very probably in public in Iran are: murder, rape, sabotage, adultery, armed robbery and trafficking drug quantities in excess of 5 kilos.

AFP estimated the number of executed convicts in Iran at 239 by using local press reports. In 2006 the Islamic state brought to execution at least 177 people, the Amnesty International estimated.

The number of executions has increased during the last couple of months. The explanation for this increase is the Iranian officials’ attempt to enforce a campaign they say is aimed at supporting virtue and increasing social security.

A shocking case which took place On 15 August, 2004 saw a teenage girl being executed in a public square for "crimes against chastity". The 16-year-old Atefah Sahaaleh was hanged in the public square in the Iranian city of Neka. The case was presented by the state-run newspaper, where the teen girl was actually described as being 22 years old and disloyal to her husband. Investigations on this case showed that she wasn’t 22 and not even married.