February 9, 2001 (AP)
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:56 p.m. ET
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Police and members of a hard-line paramilitary squad arrested dozens of anti-government protesters Friday and used tear gas to disperse hundreds more from a Tehran park, witnesses said.
The official Islamic Republic News Agency said there were only 300 protesters, mostly young people who were demanding freedom of expression.
Witnesses put the number at about 1,000, and described the protesters as monarchists -- Iranians who want the son of the late Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to rule the country. Some chanted ``long live freedom,'' witnesses said.
Police and members of the Basij volunteer forces arrested dozens of demonstrators, and scores were seen being thrown into minibuses, witnesses said.
Several shots were heard, but it wasn't clear who fired them. An unspecified number of people were injured. After the initial violence subsided, policemen beat demonstrators with clubs and batons and fired more tear gas, witnesses said.
The violence took place as Iran marked the anniversary of the 1979 collapse of the Pahlavi monarchy. The 10-day celebration ends Saturday.
The news agency, which did not mention arrests or injuries in its report, said ``some opposition groups outside the country had previously called on their supporters to stage demonstrations against the Islamic Republic of Iran today.'' It did not specify which groups.
There has been talk in Tehran for several days about a Los Angeles radio station run by Iranian monarchists calling for a rally Friday in Mellat Park, which is Tehran's largest. Two men who refused to give their names said they came to the area because they had heard the call on short-wave radio, but were afraid to enter the park.
Monarchists, who have little support in Iran, want to remove the Islamic leadership and install the late Shah's son Reza Pahlavi. During a speech last month in Washington, Pahlavi called on Iranians to unite in a nonviolent movement for democracy.
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