TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the center of the capital Sunday in one of the bloodiest confrontations in months, opposition Web sites and witnesses said. At least five people were killed.
Some accounts of the violence in Tehran were vivid and detailed, but they could not be independently confirmed because of government restrictions on media coverage. Police, who denied using firearms, said dozens of officers were injured and more than 300 protesters were arrested.
Among those purportedly shot dead by security forces or allied pro-government militias was Ali Habibi-Mousavi, described by Web sites as the 38-year-old nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.
The deaths of Mousavi’s nephew and the others set the stage for more demonstrations coinciding with Habibi-Mousavi’s burial today and the religiously significant third-, seventh- and 40th-day grieving ceremonies for him. Such cycles of protests linked to mourning ceremonies for slain protesters dislodged Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi more than three decades ago.
Police denied opening fire on demonstrators, accusing “mysterious” forces of being behind violence. Iranian officials confirmed 300 arrests and five dead in the clashes, but said several appeared to have died in accidents.
In Washington, the White House “strongly condemned” what it described as an official attempt to suppress the rights of Iranian civilians.
“Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States,” White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement.
The street chaos coincided with commemorations of Shiite Islam’s most important observance, Ashoura, which carries a message of sacrifice and dignity in the face of coercion.
Amateur video footage purportedly from the center of Tehran showed an enraged crowd carrying away one casualty, chanting, “I’ll kill, I’ll kill the one who killed my brother.” In several locations, demonstrators confronted security forces, hurling stones and setting their motorcycles, cars and vans ablaze, according to video footage and proreform Web sites.
Protesters tried to cut off roads with burning barricades. One police officer was photographed with blood streaming down his face after he was set upon by the crowd.
There were unconfirmed reports that four people died in protests in Tabriz in northwest Iran, the pro-reform Rahe-Sabz Web site said. Fierce clashes also broke out in Isfahan and Najafabad in centralIran and Shiraz in the south, the site said.
The protests began with thousands of opposition supporters chanting “Death to the dictator,” a reference to hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as they marched in defiance of official warnings of a harsh crackdown on demonstrations coinciding with Ashoura.
Opposition tactics became bolder, with demonstrators targeting police vehicles, setting vans and motorcycles on fire, and in one case burning down an office of the pro-government Basiji militia.
One piece of video footage showed protesters pulling a policeman out of a van in an apparent attempt to free demonstrators locked inside. Another taken from the back seat of a car showed a swarm of demonstrators confronting armed police, eventually overpowering them.
“Young boys, even younger than me, braved all the tear gas, and motorcycles of the anti-riot police storming them,” said Ehsan, a 22-year-old student at Tehran’s Science and Technology University who has attended all the protests. He asked that his full name not be used.
“Some of young people, only holding sticks ... counterattacked the anti-riot police and Basijis,” he said. “As soon as they were beaten up or dispersed by tear gas they appeared on some other corners. I have never remembered such day with so many brave people.”
One witness described Tehran as a war zone, and another likened the situation to open “civil war” as increasingly bold demonstrators took on security forces. In one case, protesters stripped a member of the security forces of his clothes before letting him go, a witness said.
Black plumes of smoke could be seen rising from downtown Tehran. Video posted online showed protesters beating pro-government militiamen as their motorcycles burned in the background. Helicopters hovered in the skies.
Protesters built fires in trash cans to ward off the effects of tear gas. Witnesses described running street battles between plainclothes and uniformed security officers and demonstrators, some throwing stones, in more than a dozenTehran locales.
The wail of ambulance sirens could be heard throughout the city. Car horns honked on expressways as drivers created traffic jams to prevent security forces from moving freely. Drivers on nearby streets leaned on their horns and flashed V hand signs despite the heavy presence of police deployed around main squares. Passengers on buses could be heard chanting slogans in support of Mousavi.
Around Vali Asr intersection, police fired tear-gas canisters to disperse thousands of protesters shouting “Death to the dictator” and “Today is a day of mourning.”
Demonstrators continued their protests into the night, gathering in key Tehran squares after dark and clashing with security forces armed with tear gas and batons.
“There is no letup,” said Farzad, a 30-year-old who attended Sunday’s protests with his girlfriend. “We will go ahead until we topple the government.”
Security forces tried but failed to disperse protesters on a central Tehran street with tear gas, baton charges and warning shots. They then opened fire on protesters, said witnesses and the Rah-e-Sabz Web site.
The site said that in addition to Mousavi’s nephew, four protesters were fatally shot: Mahdi Farhadinia, Mohammad Ali Rasekhinia, Amir Arshadi and Shahram Saraji.
Witnesses said one victim was an elderly man who had a gunshot wound in his forehead. He was seen being carried away by opposition supporters with blood covering his face.
An Iranian police statement said five people were killed in the unrest.
Iran’s deputy police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, said one person died after falling from a bridge, two were killed in a car accident and a fourth was fatally shot.
A television news announcer condemned “the riot staged by counter-revolutionary groups” and reported that the protests were “suppressed thanks to the presence of the public.” The report maintained the official line that the ongoing wave of anti-government protests is a conspiracy hatched by Iranian exiles and foreign governments.
The clashes marked the bloodiest confrontation since the height of unrest in the weeks after June’s election. The opposition says that Ahmadinejad won the election through vote fraud and that Mousavi was the true winner. Information for this article was contributed by Ali Akbar Dareini of The Associated Press and by Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim of the Los Angeles Times.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/28/2009