ERBIL - A Kurdish lawyer and civil activist in Iran has gone on a hunger strike in a Tehran prison, a human rights group revealed on Wednesday.

Suhaila Hijab, a civil activist and lawyer from Kermanshah province, has been sentenced to at least 18 years in jail over alleged political and religious views, Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said in a report.

Hijab has now been put behind bars in Qarchak Prison of Varamin, southeast of Tehran, while she is demanding to be transferred to Evin Prison in the capital city, the monitor added.

According to Hengaw agency, the lawyer began the hunger strike in protest of the poor condition of her detention and the pressure of the security forces on her family as well.