The director of Iran's reformist Shargh newspaper has been released on bail, one day after being arrested over a report about "prostitution" in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Mehdi Rahmanian was released on April 29 after posting bail of 500 million rials ($9,000), Iranian news agencies reported.
On April 8, Shargh published a report on the killing of a 6-year-old Afghan girl in the Shahid Rajai district of Masshad, Iran's second-largest city.
The article quoted an official as saying several brothels were located in the district and that drug abuse was a problem.
The article provoked angry protests by locals, who demonstrated in front of the local mosque and called on authorities to "take action" against the newspaper.
Shargh is one of Iran's most prominent reformist newspapers and has supported President Hasan Rohani.
