TEHRAN: A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said 36 people were killed in post-election violence including three who died in the notorious Kahrizak prison, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

"The riots had a total of 36 victims, three killed in Kahrizak and about 10 whose place of death is known but it is unclear where the rest were shot and by whom," Abdollah Araghi was quoted as saying by reformist Etemad daily.

Iranian officials had previously said about 30 were killed in the protests triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.

The opposition, which charges that the June 12 poll was massively rigged, has put the death toll at 72.

Iran shut down Kahrizak jail south of Tehran after three protesters died of injuries reportedly inflicted in custody.

The authorities have faced further embarrassment by allegations that prisoners were raped and tortured.

The elite Revolutionary Guards and their affiliate Basij militia had a crucial role in suppressing the protests.

Iranian officials have dismissed rape charges and on Tuesday they arrested top aides to defeated opposition candidates and raided an office they had set up for those harmed in the unrest and seized its documents.