Iran hanged 21 convicted drug smugglers and other criminals on Wednesday, Iranian media said, the latest of a series of executions that have been criticised by European governments and Western rights groups. Seventeen drug smugglers were executed in the eastern province of Khorasan Razavi on Wednesday, the website of state broadcaster IRIB said. Iran’s eastern border areas are notorious for clashes between drug traffickers and security forces. A police spokesman said: “They were hanged this morning after all legal procedures were carried out,” IRIB said. Four other offenders were put to death in public in the southern city of Shiraz after being convicted of banditry, smuggling and other crimes, the Fars News Agency said.