DUBAI, Feb 13 - Iranian authorities have released on bail three high-profile reformist activists who were arrested last week as part of a wider government crackdown on dissent, a lawyer told the semi-official ISNA news agency on Friday.
The lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, identified the individuals released as Azar Mansouri - who leads the moderate Reform Front coalition - along with Javad Emam and Ebrahim Asgharzadeh. Kermani said he had not been informed of any charges his clients may face.
The releases arrive against the backdrop of the country's most violent unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to accounts cited in reporting. Authorities have pursued a campaign of mass arrests and tactics intended to intimidate protesters, while attempting to restore order.
Separately, the U.S.-based rights group HRANA provided aggregated figures indicating that roughly 53,000 people have been arrested to date and that the number of fatalities had reached 7,008, including 6,509 protesters. The report noted that these figures have not been independently verified, and that Iranian officials were not immediately reachable for comment.
Key details in the public record remain limited. The lawyer who reported the bail releases did not disclose whether any formal counts were filed against the three activists, and official statements from Iranian authorities were not available at the time of reporting. The numerical totals cited by HRANA were reported with a caveat about independent verification.
This account is based on statements to ISNA and figures attributed to HRANA; it reflects the information that was publicly reported and the limitations noted by those sources regarding verification and official comment.