Iran arrests pro-reform opposition figures

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Iran arrested at least 10 leading opposition figures on Monday, a day after eight people were killed in anti-government protests that erupted during a Shi'ite Muslim religious festival, an opposition website said.

The Norooz opposition website said three advisers to opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi had been detained, along with seven pro-reform politicians.

Jaras opposition website said police fired teargas on Monday to disperse Mousavi supporters who gathered to express their condolences over his death of his nephew, among those killed during Sunday's protests.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council said eight people were killed across Iran. Health Ministry said more than 60 people had been injured in Tehran.

The deaths and scale of confrontations may signal a volatile new phase in which security forces loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei might try to crush the reformist movement.

There were no reports of protests on Monday after opposition websites said tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Iran during Sunday's Ashura festival.

The web reports can not be independently verified because foreign media are banned from directly covering protests. The cellphone text messaging system was also down in Tehran on Monday.

Body "missing"
State television said unknown assailants killed Mousavi's nephew, Ali Habibi Mousavi Khamene. A Mousavi ally described his death as martyrdom.

"A group of Mousavi supporters have gathered in front of Ebn- e Sina hospital where his nephew's body was kept... Police fired teargas to disperse them," the Jaras website reported.

A moderate website said on Monday the body of Mousavi's nephew was missing from the hospital. The official IRNA news agency denied the report, saying his body had been kept for "further investigation".

"We can not hold a funeral until my brother's body is found," said another of Mousavi's nephews said, according to Parlemannews website. Clashes were expected at the funeral ceremony.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards, who helped to quell protests after June's disputed presidential vote, called on judiciary to "firmly" encounter any protesters.

"The horrible insult to Ashura ... is unacceptable ... We call for firm punishment of those behind this obvious insult," the Guards said in a statement, carried by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Sunday's violence flared up across Iran. A western diplomat in Tehran said Iran's leadership was under great pressure but showed no sign of losing its grip.

Jaras said the unrest erupted in the cities of Qom, Shiraz, Isfahan, Najafabad, Mashhad and Babol, as well as Tehran.

"These are the hardest clashes we've seen since June," he said, referring to demonstrations after the June 12 vote, adding that bitterness over the deaths may spark fresh protests and a harsh state reaction.