Iran's hardline judiciary chief has personally interrogated protesters arrested in a crackdown that has sparked an international outcry, amplifying fears among rights groups about the use of "forced confessions" to instil fear in society.

On Thursday, state television showed Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, who has spent his career at the heart of the Islamic republic's legal apparatus and has been sanctioned by both the European Union and United States, quizzing several people the authorities accuse of being "rioters".

It aired footage of the former intelligence minister and top Tehran prosecutor interrogating two detained women, their faces blurred, both of whom broke down in tears while questioned.

The day earlier, he had spent five hours inside one of the prisons of Tehran to examine the cases of prisoners arrested in the protests, state........

© Al Monitor