Iranian authorities have released 600 people arrested during the crackdown on street protests following the disputed presidential elections of 12 June. Tehran police say they expect to free another 100 demonstrators within two days.

About one thousand people were reportedly detained in the aftermath of the elections which gave incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory.

Human Rights Watch says, however, that at least two thousand people were arrested. The rights group also accuses Iran of using harsh interrogations and other forms of coercion to extract false confessions from detainees who took part in street demonstrations in support of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

photo by misterarasmus (Flickr)