Adelaide/2011-03-02- Seven convicted drug smugglers were hanged in prisons in the Kerman cities of Bam and Jiroft today according to Arman newspaper.

Three others were hanged in a prison in the southern city of Shiraz, according to the judiciary website of the province of Fars. The website did not say when the three were executed.

All 10 were found guilty of possessing various amounts of heroin, opium, crack cocaine and morphine, reports said.

Possession of more than 30 grams (just over an ounce) of narcotics is punishable by death in Iran, as are murder, rape, armed robbery and adultery.

The latest hangings bring to 89 the number of executions reported in Iran so far in 2011, according to an AFP count based on media reports. The authorities say 80 per cent of those executed have been drug traffickers.

Iran media reported 179 hangings last year. In 2009, Iran executed 388 people, according to international human rights groups, making it second only to China in the number of people put to death.

The Islamic republic says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order and is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.