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Zahra Kazemi, the photographer who died in Iran after her arrest was killed by a blow to the head that was possibly inflicted during a scuffle with prison guards, the student news agency ISNA reported. Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Ali-Asghr Ahmadi confirmed that the coroner's office here had concluded that Zahra Kazemi had died as a result of a "blow to the head by a hard object". But he told ISNA that the report into her death "does not say whether this object struck her head or her head struck the object", adding that further investigation was needed and that her body was still in the coroner's office.

Prominent reformist journalist and press rights activist Issa Saharkhiz, arrested on Tuesday as part of a crackdown on the press by the hardline judiciary, told ISNA that while inside Evin prison he had heard that Kazemi may have been involved in a scuffle with guards. "There was some talk among the staff of Evin prison that, while in the prison, Zahra Kazemi was not handcuffed and she tried to escape. She was even trying to take pictures, so the guards attacked her -- so I think this could have resulted in a blow to her head," Saharkhiz told the news agency after his release on bail Friday.

The Iranian government, which does not recognize dual nationality, has so far refused demands by Canada to conduct its own post-mortem.

Bron: Agence France-Presse.