AN IRANIAN man convicted of raping dozens of women over the past two decades has been executed in public, the country's media reported today.

The IRAN newspaper said Mohammad Ali Salamat was hanged after Iran's Supreme Court confirmed his death sentence earlier in October. 

He was put to death at dawn on Tuesday in a cemetery in the western city of Hamedan.

Some 200 women had accused Mr Salamat, who ran a pharmacy and a gym in the city, of rape. He is said to have committed the crimes over the past 20 years.

Reports by Iranian media said that in many of the cases, Mr Salamat raped his victims after proposing marriage or dating them. He allegedly provided some with abortion pills, which are illegal in Iran.

He was arrested in January in what was the biggest number of rape case ever attributed to a single offender in Iran. 

An increasing number of executions in Iran has prompted an outcry by human rights groups, and in September a United Nations’ experts said the country is among the world leaders in carrying out executions. 

In 2005, Iran publicly hanged a man who raped and killed 20 children. In 1997, authorities hanged a man for kidnapping, raping and killing nine girls and women in Tehran.