Iranian officials have announced that 140 prisoners, arrested during recent demonstrations, have been released from jail.
Sources say that the surprising announcement demonstrates the pressure that Ayatollah Khamenei and Iran's other leaders are under.
Their release comes amid allegations of abuses and torture by several former detainees as well as the deaths of two held in Evin prison. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently closed one detention centre as it failed to "preserve the rights of detainees".
An Iranian official, speaking to Iranian news agencies, said that "Those who were released had committed lighter offences.", while 200 other prisoners accused of more serious crimes are being still held.
Mr Jalali, quoted by the Fars news agency, said that those who remained in detention were susupected of were suspected of carrying weapons and bombs and vandalising property during the demonstrations. Judical officials alledged that 50 currently held were "agents of the unrest and some of them were members of anti-revolutionary groups,".
Opposition supporters claim that the true number being held far exceeds the official figures and that the number of dead is closer to 100 than the confirmed 20 deaths.
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