Iran police: most people detained in unrest freed

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran. Iranian protesters show victory signs as they march near Ghoba mosque in northern Tehran June 28, 2009.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's police chief said on Wednesday that 1,032 people were detained during unrest in Tehran sparked by last month's disputed presidential election, but that most had since been released.

"Those who are still in detention were referred to the public and revolutionary courts in Tehran," the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam as telling a news conference, suggesting they faced legal action.

He also said 20 "rioters" had been killed during post-election violence, Fars and other news agencies reported, in line with figures earlier cited by state media. No police were killed but more than 500 were injured, he said.

The U.S.-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said on Tuesday reports from within Iran indicated that as many as 2,000 people, including opposition leaders, professors, journalists, students and protesters may be in detention across the country.

Ahmadi-Moghaddam said Iran had asked Interpol to issue an arrest warrant for Arash Hejazi, a doctor who fled to London after being identified as a witness to the death of a young woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, who became an icon for the protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election.

Britain's Times newspaper last week quoted Hejazi as saying she had been killed by a pro-government militiaman.

The government has denied the claim and Ahmadinejad this week called her death "suspicious", accusing foreign media of using the case for propaganda purposes.

"Her killing was a planned scenario and had no relation with the riots in Tehran," Ahmadi-Moghaddam said, adding Hejazi had created a "fuss" about Agha-Soltan's killing. Footage of her death has been watched by thousands on the Internet.

The authorities blame defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi for the post-election bloodshed. He says the government is to blame.

Ahmadi-Moghaddam said the number of robberies in Tehran had more than doubled during the unrest.