Iran hangs Dutch woman

An Iranian-Dutch woman, arrested after taking part in anti-government protests in Iran in 2009, has been hanged for drug smuggling, Reuters reports.

"A woman smuggler named Zahra Bahrami, daughter of Ali, has been hanged today for possession and selling of drugs," semi-official Mehr news agency reported, quoting the court's sentence.

According to the human rights activist group International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the 45-year-old woman's daughter claims that the drug charges were fabricated after Bahrami was arrested for taking part in protests in December 2009.

Mehr reported that she had been found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Iran from the Netherlands and was found with 450 grams of the drug in her possession. Iran does not recognise dual citizenship, so Dutch officials were not allowed to see Zahra Bahrami before the execution.