Up and Coming: Tehran police break up protests

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Tehran police break up protests

Mir Hossein Mousavi (right) and Mehdi Karroubi, file pics

There is confusion about Mr Mousavi's and Mr Karroubi's current locations

Iranian police have fired tear gas at opposition supporters during demonstrations in the capital Tehran, reports say.

The opposition Kaleme website said security forces and "people in civilian clothes" tried to disperse the crowd.

The unrest came a day after websites close to opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi said they had been jailed.

The government has denied this, saying the two men are at home.

The BBC's Mohsen Agsari in Tehran says security forces are stationed on main streets and squares in Tehran to prevent gatherings of opposition supporters.

But sporadic gatherings have been held close to the main Azadi square, with demonstrators chanting: "Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein."

After night fell, demonstrators made random protests, using the cover of darkness to confuse the security forces, our correspondent said.

Police blocked the focal point of the demonstrations, Eskandari street, at both ends, sending bikers to disperse the protesters.

Both Mr Mousavi and Mr Karroubi have called for demonstrations in Iran in the light of the recent uprisings in Tunisia and in Egypt.

Earlier this month the two men, along with their wives, were detained in their respective homes in Tehran as protests were staged.

Thousands of their supporters took to the streets of Tehran on 14 February, amid clashes with security forces which left two dead.

On Monday one of Mr Karroubi's sons told the BBC Persian service he had been told his father had been "taken by security forces to an unspecified location".

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