Defeated opposition candidate in Iran's disputed presidential elections, Mehdi Karroubi, has accused authorities of torturing arrested protestors.
Mr Karroubi claims that both male and female detainees were raped by prison staff and that some were tortured to death. He also alleged that prisoners were "forced to go naked, crawl on their hands and knees like animals, with prison guards riding on their backs." The statement also said that inmates were forced to lie "naked on top of one another."
His allegations of abuse, and the graphic details he uses, have led many hardline Iranian conservatives to call for Karroubi's arrest.
During Friday prayer's in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami denounced the reformist leader's claims of rape and called for him to be prosecuted. Khatami described Mr Karroubi's remarks as "slander" and "full of libel" and said the ellegations would only help their enemies in the West.
However, international human rights organisations say that Mehdi Karroubi's claims may be true. Independent investigator for the UN human rights council, Manfred Nowak, said "I truly believe that these complaints will stand up to scrutiny." and the US group, Humans Rights Watch, also, made claims of harsh interrogations, sleep deprivation and beatings in Iranian prisons.
Whilst authorities have admitted to abuses in some prisons, allegations of rape have been denied. Mr Karroubi says he rejects that it would be possible for a thorough investiagtion to have been conducted in such a short space of time.
On his website Karroubi insisted that he would not be silenced in defending humans rights, saying the government could not "stop my tongue, hand and pen."
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