Iran students say 85 held

A student news agency in Iran says it is now clear that about 85 people were arrested in Teheran on Monday as the police enforced a ban on demonstrations to mark the anniversary of a police raid on Teheran University two years ago.

The agency, ISNA, said the head of security affairs in the Teheran governor-general's office, Ali Ta'ali, had provided the latest figures which include 24 students.

It quoted him as saying some of those arrested were sending reports abroad from the site of a student gathering.

He said about three detainees had been released and the rest would appear before the courts soon. A spokesman for a students union at Teheran University said some of those arrested were simply students on their way home.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service