Clashes erupt in Tehran during Ashura rituals

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian riot police fired tear-gas and warning shots to disperse Opposition supporters in Tehran who used Youm-e-Ashur on Saturday to stage new anti-government protests, an Opposition website said.
The Jaras website also said security forces attacked a building housing Iranian news agency, ISNA, where it said some demonstrators had sought shelter during the clashes. A witness said at least two people were injured when police chased after protesters and into the downtown building.
They fractured the skull of one ISNA person and badly beat up another employee, the witness said.
ISNA, whose news service appeared to be working normally, later issued a report on the incident, saying one of its reporters had been injured without specifying who was to blame.
The outbreak of clashes during a two-day major Ashura rituals underlines escalating tension in the Islamic Republic, six months after a disputed election plunged the major oil producer into turmoil.
Despite scores of arrests and security crackdowns, Opposition protests have repeatedly flared since the June poll, which the Opposition says was rigged to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads re-election.
The official IRNA news agency said rioters numbered only 150, adding they wanted to disrupt the mourning ceremonies but that police dispersed them.
Jaras said, Well-equipped security forces are clashing violently with backers of the Opposition in many parts of downtown Tehran and added later riot police are shooting into the air in Enqelab square to disperse demonstrators who chant anti-government slogans.
IRNA accused foreign media of exaggerating the unsuccessful gathering of rioters and of trying to encourage people to take to the streets.
Police had warned the pro-reform Opposition against staging any new rallies during Tasoua and Ashura on December 26-27 when people gather to mark the 7th century martyrdom of a grandson of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), Hazrat Imam Hossein (RA).
Indicating possible further unrest when the ritual culminates on Ashura, the Opposition urged people to gather in the same Tehran area also on Sunday (today) morning, according to mobile phone text messages.
The Opposition Norooz website said families of senior reformist figures detained after the June election, which sparked huge Opposition protests, would gather on Sunday to call for their release.
President Ahmadinejad said Irans foreign foes could not harm the Islamic state from inside the country, Fars News Agency said.
They had planned a very complicated and wide-ranging scenario ... but they dont know that a nation which is ready to sacrifice its life for its religious figures will destroy all their satanic attempts, he said.
He also called European politicians one more stupid than the other, the semi-official news agency added.
Saturdays reported clashes come just days before an end-of-year deadline set by world powers for Iran to agree a UN-drafted deal to ship most of its low-enriched uranium abroad in exchange for fuel for a Tehran research reactor.