Iranian authorities have released Dr Nooshin Ebadi, the sister of Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, two weeks after her arrest.

Analysts say that authorities wanted to provoke the human rights activist, Shirin, by arresting her sister. It is reported that an aide to former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, as well as a brother-in-law of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, have also been released. All had been detained in the aftermath of 27 December anti-government demonstrations during the Shiite religious commemoration of Ashura, that left eight people dead.

On Thursday, Tehran released 30 so-called "mournful mothers", who were arrested for protesting the death or disappearance of their children in post-election unrest. On Saturday, the mothers were rounded up in Tehran's Laleh Park when security guards chased them. More than half managed to escape, but the arrested mothers were detained in prison or at a police station for 72 hours.

Photo of Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi by wickenden (Flickr)