As dawn broke over a shabby neighbourhood on the eastern edge of Iran's capital Tehran yesterday, executioners hanged four men and one woman, lifting them slowly on cranes, their legs kicking the air.
The five were convicted of drug dealing after a raid on a tangled warren of houses named the "island" in the Khak-e Sefid area of the city less than a month ago. "May God forgive me," said Fariba Tajiani Emamqoli as a female executioner placed the noose over her headscarf and around her neck. One of the men struggled to free his tied hands in a futile attempt at escape.
"Allahu akbar - God is great," the crowd of some 200 onlookers shouted as the five cranes mounted on the back of trucks buzzed into action. Those at the back, including women holding toddlers and babies, strained to get a better look.
While public hangings are rare in Tehran, outside the capital they are common. The UN estimates there were 130 executions in the first seven months of last year.
The government estimates that there are around two million drug users among Iran's 63 million people. Opium has always been used in Iran, but officials worry that heroin is taking over as the drug of choice.
A recent increase in the price of opium, and a drop in the cost of heroin, has caused particular concern. Anyone caught with more than 30 grams (about one ounce) of heroin or five kg (11 lb) of opium faces death.
Many Western countries have contributed to Iran's fight against drugs. Britain has given nearly £2.75 million to a UN programme helping to equip Iranian security forces with night-vision goggles, jeeps and bullet-proof vests. Other EU nations balk at helping Iran send smugglers to the gallows. An Iranian judiciary official has said some 800 people are now on death row for drugs offences.