Iranian security forces beat protesters in central Tehran Saturday while hardline activists disrupted a speech by the country's moderate former president, reformist Web sites said, raising tensions ahead of opposition rallies expected during a key religious mourning ritual. Several injuries were reported in Saturday's unrest, which came a day before the Shiite Muslim mourning ceremony of Ashoura. Earlier report said several demonstrators were arrested but no figures were given on how many were held. Opposition activists have held a series of anti-government protests since the death of a dissident cleric last week, and other rallies are expected during Sunday's Ashoura rituals. Last Sunday's death of the 87-year-old Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a sharp critic of Iran's leaders, has given a new push to opposition protests, which have endured despite a heavy security crackdown since disputed presidential elections in June. The Rah-e-Sabz Web site said forces, including the elite Revolutionary Guard and the paramilitary Basijis, used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse demonstrators. The forces also broke the windows of cars that were honking horns in protest. It said protests occurred in at least three areas of the capital. The report could not be independently confirmed because the Iranian government has banned foreign media from covering opposition protests. In other unrest, about 50 plainclothes hard-line activists interrupted a speech by the popular former president Mohammad Khatami and beat some of the audience, the pro-reform Salaam News Web site said. It reported several injuries, though further details weren't immediately available. The attackers chanted slogans in support of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, it said. Khatami was speaking at the former residence of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of Iran's 1979 revolution, in north Tehran. Iran is marking the first 10 days of the month of Moharram, a time of mourning rituals for a revered grandson of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),
