Pro-reform activists and Iranian security forces clashed Feb 15 following sporadic violence overnight and an increased police presence.
Protesters marched and ran through central Tehran for a second day as riot police beat and fired tear gas at them, witnesses said. Security forces patrolling on motorcycles were seen chasing protesters through the streets as they did the previous day.
The unrest, in sympathy with Egypt's recent popular uprising, followed a night of protests, attempted street blockades, burning of trash and other acts of defiance, including rock-throwing at pro-regime volunteer paramilitary Basij militia, online videos that appeared to be from Tehran indicated.
Foreign journalists and photographers are prohibited by the government from covering street protests, the UPI reported.
At least one demonstrator was killed and dozens were wounded during daylight hours Feb 14, when 20,000 to 30,000 demonstrators in at least three major cities defied strong government warnings and took to the streets. Iranian police used electric prods and tear gas to crack down on the country's biggest anti-government protests in a year.
Cellphone service was shut off around central Tehran, in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, 210 miles south of Tehran, and in the southwestern city of Shiraz, and the Internet was slowed to a crawl, activists said.
Mir Hossein Mousavi and fellow opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi remained under house arrest after they asked the government last week for permission to hold Monday's Tehran rally, supporters said.
Protests also took place in Isfahan and Shiraz before security forces dispersed demonstrators by force, the opposition Web site kaleme.com said.
In Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, thousands of demonstrators clashed with police who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. In Yemen, a key U.S. counterterrorism ally, pro-government supporters armed with sticks and knives attacked pro-reform demonstrators calling for the ouster of the country's president in the fourth straight day of protests.
