TEHRAN, Feb 14: Thousands of Iranians took part in a banned rally in Tehran on Monday to support popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. “Witnesses say in some parts of Tehran security forces arrested dozens of protesters,” opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi’s Kaleme website reported.

Security forces fired teargas to scatter thousands of opposition supporters marching towards a Tehran square, a witness said. There were also clashes between police and demonstrators, resulting in dozens of arrests, in Isfahan in central Iran, the country’s third largest city, another witness said.

The rallies amounted to a test of strength for the reformist opposition, which had not taken to the streets since Dec 2009, when eight people were killed.

Large numbers of police wearing riot gear and security forces were stationed around the main squares of the capital and pairs of state militiamen roamed the streets on motorbikes.

There were minor clashes at some points across the sprawling city, witnesses said. Mobile telephone connections were down in the area of the protests. “There are thousands of people marching ... Security forces fired tear gas to disperse them near Imam Hossein square,” one witness said earlier in the day.—Reuters