Post date: Feb 15, 2011 2:32:39 AM
Amateur video posted on a social networking video site purports to show protesters chanting while holding a night-time demonstration on the streets of Tehran.
TEHRAN, IRAN (POSTED FEBRUARY 14, 2011) AMVID/YouTube - Amateur footage uploaded to YouTube on Monday (February 14) purportedly showed further night-time protests in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
In some shots, a crowd is heard chanting, "what happened to the income of the oil? It's been spent on the Basij," an apparent reference to the volunteer militia loyal to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
During the day, thousands of Iranian opposition rallied in support of popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia on Monday and a semi-official news agency said one person was shot dead and several wounded by protesters.An opposition website said dozens were arrested while taking part in the banned protests, which amounted to a test of strength for the reformist opposition in the Islamic state.
By late evening, chants of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) echoed from Tehran rooftops in scenes reminiscent of 2009 protests against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Eight people were killed in those mass street demonstrations which lasted about a month and resulted in many arrests and several executions.
A witness said security forces fired teargas to scatter thousands marching toward a Tehran square on Monday. There were also clashes between police and demonstrators, and dozens of arrests, in the city of Isfahan, another witness told Reuters.
The semi-official Fars news agency cited violence on the part of protesters in a report that could herald a hard line by authorities clearly eager to head off any resurgent opposition.