Iranian HIV physician released from Tehran prison

"Iranian HIV doctor Arash Alaei has been released from jail in Tehran after spending more than three years behind bars for allegedly conspiring against the regime, his U.S.-based brother said Monday," Agence France-Presse reports (Sheridan, 8/29).

Arash Alaei and his brother, Kamiar Alaei, who is also a physician, were arrested in 2008 and "charged with 'communication with an enemy government' and for trying to 'overthrow the government,' according to Kamiar," CNN notes. "Kamiar Alaei served most of a three-year sentence and was released in October 2010," the news agency writes (8/29). The brothers, "regarded as pioneers of AIDS treatment in Iran," are known for their efforts to treat people who use injecting drugs and prisoners, according to AFP (8/29).