TEHRAN (AFP) - A total of 25 people were killed in the recent unrest that hit several towns and cities across Iran, the judiciary said Sunday (Jan 14), with 465 still under arrest.

"Twenty-five people, ordinary citizens and our own forces, were killed during the recent troubles," said judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie, according to the Mizanonline news agency.

"None were killed by shots from the security forces because they were ordered not to use their weapons," he added.

He provided no details on how the members of the security forces or civilians were killed, including six protesters who died while trying to storm a police station in the central province of Isfahan.

The figure was four more than the death toll announced during the unrest that spread across the country between December 28 and January 1.

"At most, there were 465 people under arrest across the country as of yesterday, while a certain number have probably been released since then," Mr Ejeie said, adding that the number included 55 in Tehran.

Reformist lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi had said last Tuesday (Jan 9) that 3,700 people were arrested during the protests, without saying how many were later released.

The unrest began over economic issues, but quickly grew into protests against the Islamic regime as a whole, with attacks on government and police buildings.

The government has said a total of 42,000 people participated in the unrest - a figure that is hard to verify due to limited information from the provinces where most of the unrest took place.