Iran's moral police have arrested a dozen couples for engaging in illicit sexual acts, including swapping partners, the conservative reported on Monday.

The report said the couples and another individual were running a website, Iran Multiplication, which was aimed at promoting illicit sexual relations.

The couples were said to have carried out sexual acts in the presence of each other and several times with multiple partners, the report added.

Those arrested held university degrees, while some were government employees and had children.

The newspaper gave no further details about their identities or when or where they were arrested.