**Further clashes have taken place in the Iranian capital Tehran, following anti-government protests in which at least four people died.**Reports say police fired tear gas to disperse crowds of demonstrators in various parts of the city overnight.
Sunday’s clashes, the worst violence since last June’s contested presidential elections, have been condemned by the US and France.
Among those killed was the nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.
According to Mr Mousavi’s website, Seyed Ali Mousavi was shot in the back as security forces fired on demonstrators.
But police strongly denied being responsible for any of the deaths.
They said one person had fallen from a bridge, two had been killed in road accidents and that one person had been shot, but not by police.
Officials said the shooting was under investigation.
Media ban
About 300 people were arrested after Sunday’s protests, police said.
“Why is such a holy day not respected by the rulers”
Mehdi Karoubi
Moderate cleric
Those detained include members of the banned opposition group Mujahideen Khalq Organisation (MKO) - or the People’s Mujahideen - Iranian state-owned channel Press TV reported.
The report quoted a source within the Iranian intelligence ministry.
Tehran’s police chief, Azizollah Rajabzadeh, was among dozens of security force members injured in Sunday’s clashes, officials said.
Opposition supporters took to the streets on Sunday as the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura reached its climax.
Foreign media is barred from Iran and reports cannot be verified, however witnesses said that some protesters attacked police.
Police responded by firing directly into the crowds, opposition sources say, although this is denied by Iranian authorities.
Clashes continued throughout the day. In the early hours of Monday, opposition sources said a large crowd had also gathered near the offices of the state-run television and radio.
They said police were firing tear gas in an attempt to disperse them.
Moderate cleric Mehdi Karoubi, who came fourth in last June’s election, criticised Iran’s rulers for Sunday’s violence, an opposition website reported.
“What has happened to this religious system that it orders the killing of innocent people during the holy day of Ashura” the Jaras website reported him as saying.
“Why is such a holy day not respected by the rulers”
Foreign concern
The White House condemned the “unjust suppression” of protests.
“Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States,” White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said.
A spokesman for the French foreign ministry, Bernard Bolero, also condemned the violence.
“These people in the streets are just claiming more freedom, more democracy,” he told the BBC. “The repression of the police forces is not acceptable.”
Iranian security forces have been on alert since influential dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri died a week ago aged 87.
His funeral attracted tens of thousands of pro-reform supporters, many of whom shouted anti-government slogans.
BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne says the opposition - denied the right to protest - chose the highly significant festival of Ashura when millions of Iranians traditionally take to the streets for ceremonies and parades.
Anger at last June’s elections, won by incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - sparked mass protests in Tehran and other cities that led to thousands of arrests and some deaths.
Mr Mousavi and other opposition leaders have said the poll was rigged.
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