The semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Jaber Banshi, the head prosecutor of the southern city of Shiraz, as saying the three were hanged Saturday after all were convicted on the same charges.

They were hanged from cranes in public on a street, their eyes covered with black masks and their hands bound behind their backs. They were led to their deaths by troops armed with machine guns clad all in black with their faces hidden by black balaclavas.

The serial killer, convicted of killing eight people, was hanged in a nearby district.

International rights groups have criticized Iran for its growing pace of hangings, which are often carried out in public.

Read more in the Associated Press.