Tehran: Iranian opposition leaders
Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karroubi came under attack and
their supporters clashed with police as vast crowds massed in
Tehran on Thursday to mark the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The elite Revolutionary Guards and police had warned
they would crack down heavily on any protests which, since
they first erupted last June, have threatened the very pillars
of the Islamic regime and split the senior clergy.
Opposition website Rahesabz and witnesses said clashes
took place at Sadeghieh square, about a kilometre from where
masses were gathered at Azadi (Freedom) Square to mark the
toppling of the US-backed shah 31 years ago.
The website said the cars of the two leaders came
under attack by police and plainclothes security men but
neither was hurt. It added that police had fired tear gas at
crowds of opposition supporters at several sites.
The reports could not independently be confirmed as
the foreign media has been barred from covering the street
marches.
Rahesabz also reported that ex-president Khatami`s
brother Mohammad Reza and his wife Zahra Eshraghi, a
granddaughter of the Islamic revolution founder Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, were briefly detained by security forces.
Karroubi`s son Hossein told AFP that his father was
"not injured but his guards who were accompanying him were."
PTI
