Tehran: Several Iran opposition websites
said that anti-government demonstrations had started in parts
of Tehran on Sunday, as police said security forces were deployed
in the capital.
"Police fired tear gas as a cat-and-mouse game (between
police and demonstrators) began in Vali Asr Square," the
Rahesabz.net said citing witnesses.
Crowds of demonstrators were also gathering in other
squares and some streets, shouting "Allahu Akar" (God is
Greatest), the Sahamnews.org website of opposition leader
Mehdi Karroubi, said.
Iran's Fars news agency said that "calm" prevailed in
Tehran in the face of the presence of security forces in "full
strength."
"The police was in control of the situation and there was
peace in the city with no reports of any incidents," Fars
said.
Foreign media have been banned from covering any
opposition gatherings.
Tehran traffic police chief Hossein Rahimi confirmed to
the state news agency IRNA that security forces were deployed
in the capital.
"Traffic was heavy in some roads due to the presence of
police and special forces," Rahimi said, but added that no
part of Tehran was blocked and no traffic restrictions were
imposed.
"The traffic was flowing," he said.
The demonstrations were called by a group owing
allegiance to opposition leaders Karroubi and Mir Hossein
Mousavi.
The group, Council for Coordination of Green Movement
Hope, posted the call for gatherings on Sunday on several
opposition websites to mark the seventh day after the killing
of two people in protests in Tehran on Monday.
Those protests, which saw demonstrators clash with
security forces, were the first since Feburary last year when
the authorities marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic
revolution.
Nine security personnel were injured, officials and
websites said.
Anti-government protests erupted in Iran after a June
2009 presidential election, in which Mousavi and Karroubi,
both candidates, charged that the incumbent Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad was fraudulently re-elected.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, February 20, 2011, 20:33