Tehran 'executes' all the men of one Iranian village

An Iranian village has seen every one of its men executed for drug offences, according to a leading Iranian official.

The unnamed village in the east of the country was used as an example of how Tehran is taking a tough line against drug smugglers.

Shahindokht Molaverdi, vice-president for women and family affairs, made the comments to Iranian news agency Mehr.

"We have a village in Sistan and Baluchistan province where every single man has been executed," she said.

"Their children are potential drug traffickers as they would want to seek revenge and provide money for their families. There is no support for these people."

Molaverdi did not name the village, but said that welfare support programmes are providing financial assistance to those who might be otherwise induced into the drugs trade.

Iran is one of the world's leading executioners and capital offences include drug smuggling, homosexuality and adultery.

Tehran put to death more than 289 people in 2014 according to Amnesty International. The condemned are usually hung by cranes in public, although stoning to death remains on the stature books.

Iran is also grappling with a problem of widespread drug addiction.

The country lies on the route for opium that is trafficked from Afghanistan to Europe.

As many as six million Iranians suffer from drug addiction and crystal meth is said to be a growing problem.