Tehran, December 27: An Iranian opposition website has said three opposition supporters have been killed during clashes with police in central Tehran.
“Three people were killed and two others were injured when police opened fire at protesters,” the Jaras website said.
The site had reported shortly before that clashes between opposition supporters and security forces were spreading quickly on the second straight day of protests.
“There are sporadic clashes in different parts of downtown Tehran, including the Khark street … There is a mass presence of protesters. Their number is increasing.”
Security forces had fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, the site said.
Protesters had set a police motorcycle on fire during the clashes, and police blocked streets in the area.
The opposition parties had urged people to take to the streets.
In another sign that the anti-government protests in Iran were not dying down six months after a disputed June 12 presidential election, clashes also took place in another areas yesterday, including the central city of Isfahan.
Reformist website Norooz said security forces in Isfahan clashed with mourners of late dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri who died aged 87 a week ago.
This year’s religious holy day of Ashura falls on Sunday, the seventh day of mourning for Montazeri. In the Shi’ite religion, friends and family traditionally gather to commemorate the deceased a week after their death.
Asura is one of the main Shi’ite holy days, when the Shi’ite faithful commemorate the slaying of the prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein in Kerbala in 680 AD.
—Agencies