4 Iranian Guerrillas Hanged in Public

Four guerrillas of the opposition Moujahedeen organization have been hanged in public in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, diplomats here said Sunday.

The guerrillas confessed on television to killing three store owners and were hanged separately outside their victims’ shops after a Friday prayer meeting.

The executions were designed both as a deterrent and as reassurance for supporters of the Islamic regime that the authorities are taking seriously a recent wave of killings by opposition groups, the diplomats said.

At least five government supporters have been shot to death in recent weeks in attacks attributed to opposition groups, including a school principal killed in front of his pupils.

The diplomats said the opposition attacks had been stepped up preceding celebrations earlier this month of the sixth anniversary of the Islamic revolution.