The Iranian opposition held Sunday rallies to commemorate two deaths at protests last Monday when security forces clashed with opposition supporters. Large crowds chanted "Death to the dictator" at the intersection of Gharib and Enghelab avenues, CNN reported. Security forces on foot and motorcycles beat several protesters with batons and detained at least four, the witness said.
Earlier, witnesses reported that security officers doubled up on motorcycles charged a group of 150 people gathered on Vali Asr Avenue, striking at least 15 fleeing protesters with batons.
Large numbers of security forces continued to patrol areas throughout Tehran and other parts of the Islamic Republic.
An eyewitness in Shiraz, who participated in demonstrations Sunday, told CNN that anti-government protesters have gathered along Mollasadra Avenue in the center of the city.
Meanwhile, Iran's prominent opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has asked to go on trial in public to defend the Iranian people's rights, his website reported on Sunday. Sahamnews.org said Karroubi made the call in a letter to Iran's judiciary chief, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, that was posted on the website as he was under "complete house arrest" and unable to deliver it.
"I have a request to you that as soon as possible and through legal channels ... a public court be set up so the indictment and defence are heard," Karroubi said in the letter, according to Sahamnews.org. "It should be a fair and public court so the people get to know the truth," he said, stressing that his "firmness in defending the legitimate right of the people was unshakeable."
