TEHRAN - (Reuters) - Iranian police clashed on Thursday with scores of rights activists who gathered in front of parliament to celebrate International Women's Day, one of the activists said.
"Police attacked a gathering of some 700 women's rights activists and hit them with batons," the activist, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
Police cars and ranks of police blocked the roads to prevent the demonstrators from marching, the activist said.
Security forces arrested 33 women's rights activists on Sunday outside a Tehran court, where five other women detained in June had gone on trial. Most of them were released on Wednesday.
"All of them have gradually been released. But three of them are still in jail," lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh told Reuters.
Sunday's protesters were demanding a fair trial for the five women, charged for "acting against national security" after taking part in an "unauthorised" rally to demand equal legal rights for women in the Islamic Republic.
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