Several Iranian women’s rights activists still in solitary confinement

The Iranian government has released most of the women detained Sunday for their involvement in a nonviolent protest in Tehran, but three still remain in jail under solitary confinement and have begun a hunger strike to protest their detention, The Associated Press reported Thursday. The names of only two of the women remaining in detention were disclosed: Jila Baniyaghoob, a journalist; and Shadi Sadr, a lawyer.

Meanwhile, the women who were released were barred from attending a planned demonstration to commerate International Women’s Day on Thursday. The demonstration never materialized.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack spoke out against the arrests Thursday, echoing previous condemnations issued by international rights groups.

“These repressive actions by the regime highlight an alarming trend of intolerance toward the expression of independent views by the Iranian people,” McCormack said.

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