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At least four people have been killed and hundreds arrested amid violence between anti-government protesters and police in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Opposition sources said the nephew of reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was among those killed when police opened fire.

Officials say three people died in accidents and one was shot dead but not by police, who they say were unarmed.

Witnesses say clashes are continuing overnight in parts of the city.

Opposition website Jaras said police were firing tear gas to disperse protesters, but more demonstrators had gathered near the state-run radio and television headquarters.

Other opposition websites have also reported four deaths in Tabriz, north-western Iran, however there is no confirmation of this.
Leaders of opposition parties had urged their supporters to take to the streets on Sunday as the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura reached a climax.

People were chanting "Khamenei will be toppled", opposition sources said, a reference to Iran's Supreme Leader.

According to witnesses, demonstrators defied attempts by security forces to disperse them and some attacked police.

Police responded by firing into the crowd, opposition sources say, although this is denied by the authorities.

"Police [have] not fired any shots in Tehran and security forces were not in possession of firearms," Tehran's police chief Commander Azizollah Rajabzadeh was quoted as saying by the Iranian ISNA news agency.

Commander Rajabzadeh was among dozens of security force members injured in the clashes, Iranian state-owned channel Press TV reported.

Iran's deputy police chief, Ahmad-Reza Radan, said one of those killed fell from a bridge, two others were hit by cars and one other was shot dead "by an unknown assailant".

He said the fatal shooting was being investigated.

Mr Mousavi's website said his nephew, Seyed Ali Mousavi, was shot in the back as security forces fired on demonstrators

Mr Mousavi rushed to a Tehran hospital where his nephew had been taken, the website added.





In pictures: Tehran clashes
As the clashes escalated, police helicopters were seen flying over central Tehran and clouds of smoke billowed into the sky, reports said.

Security forces clashed with protesters trying to reach central Enghelab Square, witnesses said.

Protesters chanted "this is the month of blood" and called for the downfall of Ayatollah Khamenei, according to opposition websites.

At the same time, pro-government demonstrators marched on Enghelab Street in support of the ayatollah, witnesses said.

Protests were also reported in the cities of Isfahan and nearby Najafabad.

In a statement, the White House said it strongly condemned the "unjust suppression of civilians in Iran".

The French foreign ministry said it condemned the "arbitrary arrests and the violent actions" committed against protesters defending "their right to freedom of expression and their desire for democracy".

The French government has continued to lobby the Iranian authorities to release a French university lecturer who was charged with spying during the election. Clotilde Reiss remains in Tehran, and last appeared in court on 23 December.

Disputed election

Tensions have risen in Iran since influential dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri died a week ago aged 87.

Mr Mousavi' supporters have sought to use Shia religious festivals to show continued defiance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.

Denied the right to protest, the opposition chose the highly significant festival of Ashura when millions of Iranians traditionally take to the streets for ceremonies and parades, BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne says.

The festival mourns the 7th Century death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Mr Mousavi came second in the June election, and anger at the result saw mass protests in Tehran and other cities that led to thousands of arrests and some deaths.

Mr Mousavi has said the poll, that returned Mr Ahmadinejad to power, was fraudulent.

It was meant to be an event when Iranians unite to honour one of Shia Islam's most revered martyrs. Instead, it turned into a day of bloody carnage that left at least nine dead, many more injured and the country facing a potentially unbridgeable divide and an escalating cycle of violence.

The Shia mourning ceremony of Ashura became the setting for all-out confrontation between Iran's torn political factions when the government unleashed a furious crackdown on pro-opposition protesters that included orders to open fire.

In the most violent clashes since the aftermath of last June's disputed presidential election, security forces fired on demonstrators who had gathered in their thousands in some of Tehran's main thoroughfares. Riot police and plainclothed agents attacked people with batons and iron rods, aiming for the head to exact maximum damage, said witnesses.

Ali Mousavi Khamane, a nephew of the reformist opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, was killed after being shot through the heart in the city's Enghelab Square. The 35-year-old's death could provide the opposition with a fresh rallying point by turning him into a martyr in its struggle against the regime.

Earlier, an elderly man had been killed after being shot through the forehead at Valiasr crossroads.

The crackdown was triggered by the opposition Green Movement's decision to use Ashura – which commemorates the death of Imam Hossein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, at Karbala in 680 – as a day of protest. The movement has been forced to limit its demonstrations to state-sanctioned occasions in recent months in the face of a fierce government crackdown.

Opposition backers yesterday turned out in their largest numbers since last June's post-election protests, despite official warnings that the government would clamp down hard on dissent.

Showing that it anticipated widespread violence, the government had cancelled all leave for emergency workers beforehand and put hospitals on alert to expect casualties. Witnesses reported seeing members of the special forces being ordered by their commanders to kneel and fire on the demonstrators.

The reformist website, Rah-e Sabz, said some soldiers refused to obey orders. One was said to have been slapped by his commander and threatened with a military tribunal unless obeyed.

Rather than be cowed, however, demonstrators responded furiously. Reports from bystanders and on opposition websites described protesters attacking the security forces with stones. Some members of the security forces were assaulted with their own batons after having them seized. Other had their uniforms ripped away as they tried to assault demonstrators in Laleh park, Tehran. In a sign of open rebellion, police cars and motorcycles were set ablaze, and some reports last night said government buildings were on fire.

The fury of the protesters was directed more at Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rather than at the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Many chanted slogans including: "Khamenei is a murderer, his leadership is illegitimate."

Some of the chants linked Khamenei directly to rape allegations levelled by some opposition activists against the security forces after the election.

The chants were one of the clearest sign yet of the rapid collapse of Khamenei's moral authority. In Iran's conservative culture, rape is often regarded as an equally heinous crime as murder.

Turning the religious tables on the Islamic regime, opposition supporters have sought to compare Khamenei to the Umayyad caliph, Yazid, who was responsible for Imam Hossein's death and is seen as a cruel tyrant in Shia Islam.

Hossein Bastani, an Iranian analyst based in France, said the nature of the demonstrations had changed since the post-election period and that most protesters now wanted a change of regime. "Several months ago most people didn't want regime change," he said. "But now because of the behaviour of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, most are now in favour of some kind of regime change. They think there is no possibility that this regime or government can be modified. The other thing that has changed is that people are no longer keeping their faces covered. They know that the consequences of being identified and caught can be very serious, but they no longer care."

The government last night dismissed reports that it had ordered forces to fire on demonstrators – a denial it also issued during the post-election upheaval, when, the opposition claims, at least 72 people were killed.

"No report of death has been sent to the police," Azizollah Rajabzadeh said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. "No one has been killed. Police did not open fire and the present officers did not carry weapons."

The White House condemned the "unjust suppression" of civilians. "Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States," said Mike Hammer, the White House national security council spokesman.


Voices from the street: Protesters' stories

Mohammad, 25, economic student, who was at Kalaj bridge:


"I witnessed three people being killed. The security forces were beating people like dogs. The forces were ordered to kneel and aim and shoot at people directly. We were Kolaj bridge and people started attacking.

The security forces began shooting at people. I saw one of them, his brain was blown out. People started chanting: 'I kill, I kill, the one who killed my brother.' People for the first time are defending themselves by throwing stones and also with batons. People have been attacking them bare-handed. The plain-clothed agents are grasping pieces of metal sticks and beating people on the head."

Ali Reza, 23, computer engineering student at Tehran Azad University, who was at Ferdowsi Square:


"In Azadi Street close to Eskandari Street people are attacking the forces. Most of the slogans have been against Khamenei rather than Ahmadineiad. In Imam Hossein Square, people set fire to the forces' motorcycles and ripped off the clothes of the revolutionary guard. One basiji, who was carrying a dagger in Azadi Street, was severely injured when people attacked him. In Laleh Park, 50,000 people had gathered. Around 50 or 60 of the security forces were 'arrested' by people and had their clothes ripped off. The forces are aiming at the upper part of people's bodies."

SirNitram wrote:I am increasingly wondering if the power in control is neither Khomenei or the President, but the Republican Guard.

(CNN) -- Iran's influential parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Tuesday that authorities should mete out "the harshest punishment" to protesters who disrupted Ashura observances.

Addressing lawmakers, Larijani said the protesters had insulted Imam Hussein, whose death is commemorated during the religious observance.

He urged officials to "arrest offenders of the religion and mete out harshest punishments to such anti-revolutionary figures with no mercy."

Larijani also slammed Britain and the United States for condemning a government crackdown on the weekend's protesters, and said Iran would summon Britain's ambassador in Tehran to protest.

The protests were the deadliest since June demonstrations followed the nation's disputed presidential election. They left at least eight dead, though the Iranian government denied its security forces killed anyone.

Police arrested hundreds of people, including prominent figures. Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi told CNN on Monday that Iranian intelligence officials had detained her sister, dentistry professor Nushin Ebadi.

Among the dead was the nephew of opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Moussavi's Web site said the nephew, Seyed Ali Moussavi, was killed in the demonstrations by a shot to the heart.

The Islamic Republic News Agency said the bullet came from a "terror team," and that other such teams were operating in Tehran, the nation's capital. It did not offer further details.

The news agency also disputed an account on the reformist Web site Parlemannews, which said the nephew's body had disappeared.

It said the government is holding the body and four others for autopsies. The delay meant the dead could not be buried within 24 hours, as Islamic custom dictates.

An Iranian media blackout has made it difficult to verify accounts of the weekend's violence, but videos that found their way west depicted bloodied and, in some cases, apparently dead protesters.

Human-rights group Amnesty International on Monday urged Iranian authorities to ensure that those attending the funerals of the weekend's victims be allowed to assemble peacefully.

"The Supreme Leader and government must instruct the police to end the use of force, while leaders of the Revolutionary Guard must withdraw the Basij (militia) from demonstrations, since time and time again it has been shown that their actions are fueling conflict, leading to the loss of life," Amnesty International said.

Officials such as Iran's Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan and Tehran Police Chief Azizollah Rajabzadeh denied their forces had killed anyone. In fact, they told the semi-official Islamic Students News Agency, their forces fired no weapons and weren't even carrying firearms.

Iran's influential parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Tuesday that authorities should mete out "the harshest punishment" to protesters who disrupted Ashura observances.

His comments, made during an address to lawmakers, were reported by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Larijani said the protesters had insulted Imam Hussein -- whose death is commemorated during the religious observance -- and he urged officials to "arrest offenders of the religion and mete out harshest punishments to such anti-revolutionary figures with no mercy."

The weekend protests were the deadliest since June demonstrations followed the nation's disputed presidential election. They left at least eight dead, though the Iranian government denied its security forces killed anyone.

Police arrested hundreds of people, including prominent figures. Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi told CNN on Monday that Iranian intelligence officials had detained her sister, dentistry professor Nushin Ebadi.

Among the dead was the nephew of opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Moussavi's Web site said the nephew, Seyed Ali Moussavi, was killed in the demonstrations by a shot to the heart.

The Islamic Republic News Agency said the bullet came from a "terror team," and that other such teams were operating in Tehran, the nation's capital. It did not offer further details.

The media blackout has made it difficult to verify accounts, but videos that found their way west depicted bloodied and -- in some cases, apparently dead -- .

Human rights group Amnesty International called on Iranian authorities on Monday to ensure that those attending the funerals of the weekend's victims be allowed to assemble peacefully.

"The Supreme Leader and government must instruct the police to end the use of force, while leaders of the Revolutionary Guard must withdraw the Basij (militia) from demonstrations, since time and time again it has been shown that their actions are fueling conflict, leading to the loss of life," Amnesty International said.

Officials such as Iran's Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan and Tehran Police Chief Azizollah Rajabzadeh denied their forces had killed anyone. In fact, they told the semi-official Islamic Students News Agency, their forces fired no weapons and weren't even carrying firearms.