A senior Iranian prosecutor said today that authorities will release a jailed American woman on $500,000 (€393,000) bail because of health problems, another sudden about-face by Iran in a case that has added to tension with the United States.

THE Irish Baha’i community was dismayed to learn that the seven Baha’i leaders in Iran have each reportedly been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after being falsely accused of espionage, propaganda activities against the Islamic order and the establishment of an illegal administration, among other allegations.

A YOUNG Frenchacademic flew home from Iran yesterday, 10 months after she was arrested and accused of spying, as France denied striking a secret deal with Tehran.

IRAN yesterday hanged five Kurdish activists convicted of membership of armed opposition groups and involvement in bombings, the country’s official news agency, IRNA, reported.

IRAN said yesterday it would try three Americans jailed since crossing the border from Iraq in July, a step certain to aggravate the US at a time when Tehran is locked in a standoff with the West over its nuclear programme.

An Iranian pathologist found that the son of a prominent conservative politician’s adviser died from beatings and poor prison conditions, it was reported.

IRAN has announced that the first trials of post-election protesters will begin this weekend, as anger grew even among some government supporters over abuse of those detained in the more than six-week-old crackdown.

IRANIAN authorities have freed 140 people detained in street protests over last month’s disputed election and the supreme leader ordered a jail closed amid opposition claims of prisoner abuse.

The lawyer for an Iranian employee of the British Embassy accused of involvement in post-election protests says his client has been released on bail.

An international human rights group said an Iranian family only learned of the death of their 19-year-old son weeks after he was shot during a demonstration against the country’s disputed presidential election.

The lawyer of a detained Iranian employee of the British embassy in Tehran said today his client had been charged with “acting against national security”.

International human rights organisations today warned that many prominent activists and politicians have been arrested in Iran in response to protests over the country's disputed presidential election.

AN American journalist held for four months in Iran was freed yesterday and reunited with her parents after an appeals court suspended her eight-year prison sentence on charges of spying for the US.

AN Iranian-American journalist detained in Tehran has been charged with espionage, her lawyer said yesterday.

Iran has hanged 10 men convicted of murder and armed robbery, media reports said today.

Iran has hanged five men convicted of murder, official media reported today.

Human rights organisations have issued an urgent appeal for support for a women's rights activist jailed in Tehran's Evin Prison.

A leading Iranian peace activist and American citizen has been freed from prison in Tehran on the eve of president Ahmadinejad's key address to the UN.

US academic Haleh Esfandiari and two other Iranian-Americans have been “formally charged” with endangering national security and espionage, Iran’s judiciary spokesman said today.

Iran says it has uncovered spy rings organised by the United States and its Western allies, claiming on state-run television that the espionage networks were made up of “infiltrating elements from the Iraqi occupiers”.

As Iran’s judiciary acknowledged that the country’s intelligence is investigating an American-Iranian academic for security crimes, US Secretary of State blasted the detention and called on Tehran today to immediately release Haleh Esfandiari.

IRAN’S hardline judiciary, accused of a cover-up in the death of Iranian-Canadian photographer Zahra Kazemi, drew fresh indignation by barring diplomats and journalists from the trial of her alleged killer and then abruptly halting the case.