Iranian security forces fired on stone-throwing protesters in the center of the capital Sunday in one of the bloodiest confrontations in months, opposition websites 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 arrested. The dead included a nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, according to Mousavi's web site, Kaleme.ir. The clashes were sure to deepen antagonism between the government and a reform movement that has shown resilience in the face of repeated crackdowns. Many demonstrators had not anticipated such harsh tactics by the authorities, despite police warnings of tougher action. 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.” 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 Rah-e-Sabz website said. Fierce clashes also broke out in Isfahan and Najafabad in central Iran and Shiraz in the south, it said. Mousavi's web site said the nephew, Ali Mousavi, was shot in the back on Azadi Street, or Freedom Street, during clashes in which security forces reportedly fired on demonstrators, and was taken to Ibn Sina Hospital. It said Mousavi and other family members rushed to the hospital. A close aide to Mousavi, a presidential contender in a disputed June election, said Ali Mousavi died of injuries in the hospital.
