Two Iranian women's rights activists were released on bail yesterday after spending more than a month in Tehran's Evin prison accused of spreading propaganda against the state.
"They came out and we are at a friend's house now," activist Sussan Tahmasebi said after the release of Jelveh Javaheri and Maryam Hosseinkhah who, she said, were detained on December 1 and November 18 respectively.
Ms Tahmasebi said bail was set at 50 million rials ($5,300) each in the form of a guaranteed bank cheque. A US-based rights group last month called on Iran to drop "politically motivated" charges against the two activists facing trial for taking part in a protest and said they should be freed immediately.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said they were active in a drive to collect one million signatures in favour of greater female rights. They were also among a group of women who took part in a banned demonstration in Tehran last March.