Mass arrests in Iran over security fears

Tehran: More than 32 women and several Iranian journalists were arrested on Sunday for "endangering national security", the state media reported.

The women were protesting outside a courthouse in Tehran to demand a fair trial for five women arrested last June. The five women on trial had met to demand equal rights for women.

They were charged with endangering national security, propaganda against the state and taking part in an illegal gathering.

The Iranian journalists were arrested for charges including "acting against national security foreign backing", Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.

"They were spreading reports to create divisions among Iran's ethnic groups. They were getting significant amounts of dollars from abroad," IRNA quoted a ministry statement as saying.

IRNA's report did not name the journalists or cite any other countries.

The arrests came as Iranian and Saudi leaders meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the security situation in Iraq and Lebanon, and to prevent Iran from sliding further into isolation.