Iran Squelches Protest Attempt in Capital

NYTimes, Anti-government protestors gathered in Tehran for a planned rally on Sunday to mark the deaths of two people killed in clashes one week earlier, but Iran’s police mounted a stultifying security presence in the capital, arresting protesters and using tear gas in an attempt to prevent the unrest from escalating.

Despite a steady rain on Sunday, large crowds of protestors gathered throughout Tehran, from the main thoroughfare to city squares, according to opposition Web sites and witnesses. The reported that ambulances were being driven into crowds and officers were making arrests. Riot control forces, some on motorcycles, used tear gas to disperse crowds near Valiasr Square.

Witnesses reported that plain-clothed officers randomly stopped and frisked people on streets and removed them from vehicles. There were reports of policemen firing on the crowds, although because foreign journalists were largely not allowed to report in Iran, that could not be immediately verified.

According to The Associated Press, referencing Iran’s official news agency, the Iranian police arrested the daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for taking part in the banned opposition rally, shouting anti-government slogans.

Mr. Rafsanjani’s daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, had been detained while protesting in 2009.

On Saturday, the Iranian pro-government news agency Fars warned that armed opposition groups would fire on protesters, in an attempt to dissuade the crowds from gathering as they did on Feb. 14.

Witnesses then estimated that more than 20,000 people attended those demonstrations, making them the largest since opposition forces protested the 2009 disputed election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

One of the two opposition leaders, Mir Hussein Moussavi, the former presidential candidate, had been reported missing on Thursday. His aide confirmed on Sunday that Mr. Moussavi and his wife were under house arrest. But in a troubling development, supporters said they were no longer able to send in food for the family over the past few days because the police were surrounded the home.

The police in Iran appeared to be recruiting teenagers to quell the protests on Sunday. Witnesses observed packs of young boys armed with batons and wearing army fatigues.

Another witness told the International Campaign for Human Rights that security forces on Mirdamad Street in Tehran used live ammunition against protesters, and one person is believed to have been killed there. “There is gunfire and crowds are running in the streets,” the man told the web site, according to the Campaign.

The protests and forceful security crackdowns were not limited to Tehran, but in the country’s other major cities, including Mashad, Shiraz and Tabriz. Witnesses also reported protests in Marewan, a Kurdistan province.