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Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in downtown Tehran in defiance of the Iranian government and its security forces who beat back protesters on Monday and lobbed tear gas canisters into the crowd, witnesses said.

The wave of people who marched along Revolution Avenue remained largely silent as they walked toward the capital city's Azadi Square, though at times they clashed with Iranian security forces that tried to disperse the marchers and divert them from the square.

Security forces in uniform and plain-clothes members of the pro-government Basij militia rushed toward crowds that were chanting "Death to the dictator!" at Imam Hossein Square, the planned starting point of a scheduled rally, a witness said. Several people were hit, while most were chased away, the witness said.

Thousands of security personnel lined the avenue later on Monday, allowing the march to continue but preventing the marchers from congregating in the square, considered a rallying point by opposition groups.


Several protesters who were diverted to side-streets were beaten with batons and gassed by security officers waiting at those locations, witnesses said.

At least 15 people were detained, one witness said.

Riot police on motorcycles patrolled the streets. Some fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, the witness said.

The witnesses declined to be named for fear of retribution.
The Iranian government earlier had blocked the homes of opposition leaders after they called for rallies in support of the uprising in Egypt.
About 200 protesters -- some of whom chanted "death to Khamenei" and "death to the dictator" -- set fire to several trash bins in the capital city and threw rocks at security forces, who tried unsuccessfully to subdue them, witnesses said. The chanting protesters apparently were referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme religious leader.

Clashes also erupted in front of Tehran University, where security forces dispersed crowds by firing tear gas and paint-ball guns, a witness said. Police detained several protesters, the witness said.

Reporting from Iran proved extremely difficult Monday, as foreign journalists were denied visas, accredited journalists living in the country were restricted from covering the demonstrations and internet speeds slowed to a crawl in an apparent attempt to limit both protest organizing as well as information being transmitted out of the country.

Video uploaded to YouTube showed throngs of demonstrators marching, burning posters of Khamenei, and in one instance beating a man who appeared to try to remove a poster from the hands of protesters.
CNN can not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

"There needs to be a commitment to open up the political system," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday after a meeting with Speaker of the House John Boehner.

Clinton said the crackdown is "an indictment of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime" that constantly "hailed" the protests in Egypt but "once again illustrate their true nature."

Last week, the Iranian government rounded up activists after opposition leaders Mehdi Karrubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi called for supporters to gather at Tehran's Azadi Square -- the site of mass protests by Iran's opposition movement after the disputed 2009 presidential elections.
Hundreds of security forces patrolled Azadi Square on Monday on foot, on motorcycles and in cars, a witness said.

"You can't take two steps without running into security personnel," the witness said. "They're all over the place."

Security forces also blocked roads leading to Moussavi's home, his opposition website, Kaleme, reported. The website also said phone lines and cell phone service to the area had been cut off.

Plain-clothes security forces blocked Moussavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, from leaving their home Monday, according to Kaleme and another opposition website, Saham News.

"This is what we've been told do," security forces said when Rahnavard asked why she couldn't leave, Saham reported. "We're sorry."
Surveillance cameras installed outside Karrubi's home have been stolen and destroyed, Kaleme reported.

About 50 riot police on motorcycles were seen heading toward Azadi Square, while 100 more were stationed at Ferdowsi Square in the city center.

Iranian authorities had warned against holding the rally, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

"We definitely see them as enemies of the revolution and spies, and we will confront them with force," Cmdr. Hossein Hamedani of the Revolutionary Guard told IRNA.

The government's stance on the rally was in stark contrast to its position in the days following the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The head of Iran's National Security Council and other Iranian authorities had lauded this development, comparing "the Egyptian Revolution with the victory of Iran's Islamic Revolution," according to Iran's state-run media.
The White House says threats to stifle dissent and mass communication suggest that Iran's government is not willing to let its people voice their views and embrace freedom.

"They are scared," then-press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday, hours after Mubarak stepped down.

"That's why they threatened to kill anybody that tries to do this," Gibbs of the Iranian government. "That's why they have shut off all measure of communication."

Over the weekend, Iranian authorities blocked the word "Bahman" -- the 11th month of the Persian calendar -- from internet searches within the country, according to an opposition website.

The measure appeared to be an effort by Iranian authorities to obstruct access to several websites that are promoting the rally -- the 25th day of Bahman, Saham News reported Saturday.

Thousands of opposition supporters have clashed with security forces in the centre of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Police used tear gas and detained dozens rallying in solidarity with uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. There was one report of a death in Tehran.

The BBC also received reports of similar protests being held in the cities of Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz.

Earlier, the police placed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi under house arrest, according to his website.

It said the move was intended to prevent the former prime minister attending the march in Tehran, which the authorities had prohibited. The road leading to Mr Mousavi's house was also blocked by police vans.

Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament and a senior cleric, is also reportedly under de facto house arrest.

Both men disputed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, which triggered mass protests that drew the largest crowds in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The demonstrations eventually led to a brutal crackdown.

The opposition says more than 80 of its supporters were killed over the following six months, a figure the government disputes. Several have been sentenced to death, and dozens jailed.
Paintball shooting

In their first major show of dissent since Ashura in December 2009, when eight people were killed, thousands of opposition supporters defied the government ban and gathered at Tehran's Azadi Square on Monday, chanting, "Death to dictators".

Riot police and plain-clothes police backed by the elite Republican Guard used tear gas to disperse the protesters, he adds.

Police also fired paintball guns at the demonstrators and beat some with batons.

The fiercest clashes were reported on Azerbaijan Street, close to Azadi Square, and a number of ambulances were seen coming and going. Witnesses told the Associated Press news agency that at least three protesters were wounded by bullets, with dozens of others beaten by the security forces and taken to hospital.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported that one person had been shot dead by protesters and several others wounded.

Mr Mousavi's website, Kaleme.com, said that - according to unconfirmed reports - "hundreds of protesters" had been arrested. There has been no official confirmation, but witnesses told BBC Persian that dozens had been taken away in police vans from the area.

Police also later surrounded Tehran University and Sharif University, and the houses of former President Mohammad Khatami and Abdollah Nuri, a former interior minister and head of Tehran City Council.

As night fell, riot police remained deployed in central Tehran, but the protesters dispersed. The local electricity supply was also cut.

Earlier, an activist wearing a green headband - the colour of the main opposition movement - was detained after he climbed a tall crane in the capital and began inviting people to attend Monday's demonstration.

Clinton slams 'hypocrisy'

Although Iran's establishment officially supports the Egyptian protests, it says the rallies in Iran are a "political move" by opposition leaders.

n anticipation of the rally, the authorities stepped up security in the capital, blocked access to internet sites, and started jamming satellite news channels. Police helicopters also hovered overhead.

Analysts say Tehran is trying to stop opposition groups from using the Egypt rally as a means to re-ignite anti-government protests of 2009.

Both the Iranian government and the opposition have claimed credit for the recent popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The government says the mass protests were inspired by Iran's 1979 revolution, while the opposition says its 2009 protests encouraged the unrest. The opposition also says peaceful rallies do not need permission.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the courage and aspirations of the protesters, and spoke of the Iranian government's "hypocrisy".

"We are against violence and we would call to account the Iranian government that is once again using its security forces and resorting to violence to prevent the free expression of ideas from their own people," she told reporters in Washington.

"Secondly, we support the universal human rights of the Iranian people. They deserve to have the same rights that they saw played being out in Egypt and that are part of their own birthright."

"And thirdly, we think that there needs to be a commitment to open up the political system in Iran, to hear the voices of the opposition and civil society," she added.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is on a visit to Iran, earlier warned that "when leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands".

BBC Tehran correspondent James Reynolds says the demonstrations make one key point - the opposition Green Movement is still alive, but it is not yet clear if it poses a serious threat to Iran's establishment.

At the scene
image of Mohsen Asgari Mohsen Asgari BBC News, Tehran

Riding on the back of a motorbike, holding my mobile to take video footage, I went to central Tehran on Monday afternoon. My driver skilfully found back alleys to reach Azadi (Freedom) Square, the Iranian counterpart of Egypt's Tahrir Square.

Thousands of people made their way amicably and silently towards the square, most of them young. Many wore trainers, suggesting they were anticipating having to run away from the security forces to escape arrest.

Riot police began to disperse the crowd before they even started the rally. Men on motorbikes belonging to the police and Republican Guards charged the protesters and beat them severely with batons. However, this merely emboldened them.

When the troops fired tear gas at the crowd, it became very difficult to breathe. Some girls and women fainted. Many of the protesters were also detained. Others set rubbish bins on fire to combat the effects of the gas.

My driver was hit by a paintball fired by a policeman and lightly injured, but he was still able to drive me back to the office. Once there, I was shocked to see that official and semi-official news agencies were saying everything was normal when for a couple of hours, there had been total chaos.

Charon wrote:Saw this coming. Something I did notice though. This time around they're chanting against Khamenei. Weren't they only chanting against the President (aka the figurehead) last round of protests? If so, that doesn't bode well for the Iranian government.

SirNitram wrote:Obama should keep hands off for a while on this too. I know people think he should use his influence, pulpit, etc.. But doing that with Iran backfires harder than most.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed her firm support for the thousands of opposition supporters who protested in Iran's capital on Monday.

Mrs Clinton said they deserved to have "the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt" and that Iran had to "open up" its political system.

One person was reportedly shot dead in the violent clashes between protesters and security forces in central Tehran.

Dozens were detained, and opposition leaders were placed under house arrest.

The BBC received reports of banned demonstrations in other Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz.
'Hypocrisy'

In their first major show of dissent December 2009, when eight people were killed, thousands of opposition supporters gathered at Tehran's Azadi Square on Monday in solidarity with the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

They chanted: "Death to dictators".

But the BBC's Mohsen Asgari, who was at the rally, says it was not long before riot police fired tear gas, while men on motorbikes charged the crowd with batons.

Witnesses told the Associated Press new agency that at least three protesters had been wounded by bullets, with dozens of others taken to hospital as a result of the beatings.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency meanwhile reported that one person was shot dead by protesters and several others wounded.

Opposition websites said hundreds of people were arrested. There has been no official confirmation.

As night fell, hundreds of riot police remained on the streets of the capital.

Later in Washington, Mrs Clinton told reporters that the US administration "very clearly and directly" supports the protesters.

"What we see happening in Iran today is a testament to the courage of the Iranian people, and an indictment of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime - a regime which over the last three weeks has constantly hailed what went on in Egypt," she said.

Mrs Clinton said the US had the same message for the Iranian authorities as it did for those in Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down after 29 years in power by nationwide mass protests.

"We are against violence and we would call to account the Iranian government that is once again using its security forces and resorting to violence to prevent the free expression of ideas from their own people," she said.

"We think that there needs to be a commitment to open up the political system in Iran, to hear the voices of the opposition and civil society," she added.

Earlier on Monday, police placed the opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, under house arrest and blocked access to his home.

His website said they intended to prevent the former prime minister attending the Tehran rally.

Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament and a senior cleric, is also reportedly being held under house arrest.

Both men disputed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, which triggered protests that drew the largest crowds in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The authorities responded by launching a brutal crackdown.

The opposition says more than 80 of its supporters were killed over the following six months, a figure the government disputes. Several have been sentenced to death, and dozens jailed.

Although Iran's establishment supported the Egyptian and Tunisian protests, describing them as an "Islamic awakening" inspired by the Islamic Revolution, it said the opposition rallies were a "political move".

Iranian lawmakers urged the judiciary on Tuesday to hand out death penalties to opposition leaders for fomenting unrest in the Islamic state after a rally in which one person was killed and dozens were wounded, state media said.

Clashes broke out between security forces and protesters when thousands of opposition supporters rallied in sympathy for popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia on Monday, reviving mass protests that shook Iran after a presidential vote in 2009.

"(Opposition leaders) Mahdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi are corrupts on earth and should be tried," the official IRNA news agency quoted lawmakers as saying in a statement.

The loose term "corrupt on earth" — a charge which has been leveled at political dissidents in the past — carries the death penalty in the country.
The BBC reported that about 50 conservative lawmakers also marched through the parliament's main hall Tuesday, chanting "Death to Mousavi, death to Karroubi."

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama criticized the Iranian government for its harsh treatment of protesters.

"It's ironic that the Iranian regime is pretending to celebrate what happened in Egypt," Obama said. "They acted in direct contrast to what happened in Egypt" by using force against demonstrators.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused opposition leaders of being part of a Western plot to overthrow the Islamic system.

The claim has been denied by Mousavi, a former Iranian premier, and Karroubi, a former Iranian parliament speaker and leader of the National Confidence reformist party.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani also accused the United States and its allies of providing support to the opposition.

"The main aim of Americans was to simulate the recent events in the Middle East in Iran to divert attentions from those countries," Larijani said, state radio reported.

Protests against Iran's clerical establishment appeared to have ended and life was back to normal in Tehran streets and other cities on Tuesday.

Wary of a repeat of the protests in 2009, which saw the biggest unrest since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, hardline rulers are expected to step up pressure on the opposition to prevent a new flare-up.

The last anti-government protest in Iran was in December 2009 when eight people were killed.

At least 20 pro-reform activists were arrested before the protests, opposition websites reported.

State television described protesters as "hypocrites, monarchists, thugs and seditionists."

A senior police official said dozens of protesters had been arrested and at least nine policemen were wounded by "hypocrites."

"We have information...that America, Britain and Israel guided the opposition leaders who called for the rally," said deputy police chief Ahmadreza Radan, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia against secular, Western-allied rulers an "Islamic awakening," akin to the 1979 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed shah in Iran.

But the opposition say events in Tunisia and Egypt mirror their own protests after the June 2009 vote which they say was rigged to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. Authorities deny this.
The opposition leaders, who called the protest, were prevented by security forces from participating the rally, Mousavi's website Kaleme reported.
Amnesty International, Britain and the United States condemned the authorities' reaction to the protests.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a major speech extolling Internet freedom on Tuesday, said there was a debate "about whether the Internet is a force for liberation or repression."

"But as the events in Iran, Egypt and elsewhere have shown, that debate is largely beside the point," she said. "The Internet isn't good or bad. It is both. It is neither. What matters is what people who go online do there, and what principles should guide us as we come together in cyberspace.

"Together, the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association online comprise what I have called the freedom to connect. The United States supports this freedom for people everywhere, and we have called on other nations to do the same."

The Obama administration will pump $25 million this year into helping cyber dissidents foil Internet repression, she added. The State Department, after launching Twitter accounts in Arabic and Farsi last week, will soon begin tweeting in Chinese, Hindi and Russian, she said.

Clinton said the U.S. was "convinced that an open Internet fosters long-term peace, progress and prosperity" but added the reverse "is also true."
"An Internet that is closed and fractured, where different governments can block activity or change the rules on a whim, where speech is censored or punished, and privacy does not exist, that is an Internet that can cut off opportunities for peace and progress and discourage innovation and entrepreneurship," Clinton said.

"There is no silver bullet in the struggle against Internet repression. There's no 'app' for that. And accordingly, we are taking a comprehensive and innovative approach, one that matches our diplomacy with technology, secure distribution networks for tools, and direct support for those on the front lines."

"The government will be nervous because they really thought they had vanquished this one"

Fresh clashes have erupted in Tehran during the funeral of a student killed in anti-government protests on Monday, Iranian state television says.

Rival groups of pro- and anti-government protesters both claim the dead man as one of their supporters.

Sanea Jaleh, 26, was among two people killed during Monday's protests, when thousands of opposition members rallied for the first time in more than a year.

The protests come amid a wave of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Tight security

Wednesday's clash took place during Mr Jaleh's funeral procession, which started at Tehran University in the centre of the capital, broadcaster Irib reported.

"Students and the people attending the funeral ceremony... have clashed with a limited number of people apparently linked to the sedition [opposition] movement and forced them out by chanting slogans of death to hypocrites," the report on the state-run channel said.

It gave no details of any injuries.

The BBC's Mohsen Asgari, who attended the ceremony in Tehran, said he did not see any major clashes. But he said police forces had blocked all the roads leading to the university and were only allowing in pro-government supporters.

On Monday, thousands of supporters of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi took to the streets of Tehran to show solidarity with the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, which have both succeeded in toppling their unpopular leaders.

Two people were killed and several wounded during Monday's clashes with riot police in Tehran. Some 1,500 people have been detained, opposition groups say, but official figures put the number at 150.
'Pay the price'

Following the deadly clashes, Iranian MPs called for the two opposition leaders to be tried and executed.

But Mr Karroubi and Mr Mousavi - who are both being held under de facto house arrest - issued defiant statements via their websites on Wednesday.

"I am not afraid of any kind of threat and as a soldier of this great nation for the past almost 50 years, I am ready to pay any price," Mr Karroubi said on his official site Sahamnews.org.

In a separate statement on his own website, Kaleme.com, Mr Mousavi praised the protesters for Monday's rally.

"The glorious rally on 25 Bahman (14 February) is a great achievement for the great people of a great nation and for the Green Movement," he said, referring to the opposition movement and its supporters.

The protests were the first anti-government demonstration since February 2010, when similar agitation was crushed by security forces and militiamen.

Opposition supporters maintain that the re-election of President Ahmadinejad in June 2009 was rigged.

Many of the slogans chanted by protesters on Monday were aimed against the most senior figure in the Iranian regime - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

He is seen by them as the power behind the opposition crackdown, Mr Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election, and behind many of the president's domestic and foreign polices which have brought hardship to Iranians.

President Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that the latest opposition protests seen in Iranian cities were "going nowhere" and vowed to punish their organisers.

US President Barack Obama sharply criticised the authorities' response