TEHRAN - Families of jailed reformists and political activists are planning to hold a peaceful protest gathering on Wednesday to secure the release of their detained relatives, a reformist website reported.
The families have also threatened that if the gathering fails to secure the release of the detainees, they would resort to a sit-in at a later date to be followed by a hunger strike, norooznews.com said.
"The peaceful gathering on October 28 will be our first action aimed at giving an ultimatum to release our dear ones," said a statement posted on Monday on the website by a group representing the families.
The group warned if the authorities "still do not see and hear us ... and continue their previous behaviour, we will hold a sit-in ... and still if there are no results, we will go for a collective hunger strike."
The group, however, did not reveal where it would gather on Wednesday.
The families have frequently gathered in front of Tehran's notorious Evin where the detainees have been held over the past few months.
The group also said if none of these protests work, then it would complain to international courts and human rights institutions.
Iranian authorities arrested 4,000 protesters, political activists, journalists and senior reformists during a crackdown on those who opposed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a June 12 poll.
Most of them have been released, but around 140 have been put on trial, including several leading reformists.
The re-election of Ahmadinejad triggered the worst political crisis in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic with hundreds of thousands of people pouring onto Tehran streets to protest at alleged massive fraud.