Iran's parliament will investigate the death of a blogger in police custody following international condemnation of the incident.

Sattar Beheshti, who ran an anti-government blog, was arrested in his home on October 30 after receiving death threats. The 35-year-old died in custody, possibly as a result of torture, according to Amnesty International.

Deputy parliament speaker Mohammad Hassan Abu-Torabi Fard has said a committee will investigate the death.

Outspoken politician Ahmad Tavakoli, who represents Tehran, criticised Iran's judiciary for failing to address Mr Beheshti's death.

"I recommend that instead of dealing harshly with bloggers, you go after corrupt officials," he said.

Iran has in the past rejected criticism of its human rights record as political and motivated by Western opposition to the Islamic Republic. But its leadership has taken action on other allegations of mistreatment of prisoners.

The media is tightly controlled in Iran and blogging has become one of the few outlets – albeit a risky one – for criticising the state.

Iran clamped down on dissent after mass protests against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. Iranian authorities have acknowledged that three people arrested in the post-election unrest were killed in custody.

Mr Beheshti's family initially gave interviews to media outlets on the circumstances of his arrest, but the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said it had not been able to contact them in recent days and believed the family had been ordered to keep silent.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Iran must explain Mr Beheshti's sudden death.