Islamic militants patrolled streets early today near a Tehran University dormitory that has been the focal point of six nights of pro-democracy protests.
In an apparent effort to defuse the protests, police have arrested several ringleaders of the pro-clergy vigilantes who terrorised protesters in Tehran two nights ago, smashing car windshields and beating people with bars and chains.
Three gunshots rang out at one point, but the cause of the shooting was unclear and witnesses said the atmosphere was much calmer than on previous nights when vigilantes wielding clubs, chains and knives had attacked the demonstrators.
The protests, which have included unprecedented insults hurled at Iran's clerical leaders, have been welcomed by the United States. "This is the beginning of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran which I think is positive," President George W. Bush said yesterday.
Iran has accused US officials of orchestrating the protests and exaggerating their importance.
A police spokesman said that some 60 people, including 32 policemen, were injured in Tehran and five banks, 22 cars and 34 motorbikes were damaged in four nights of unrest, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The Tehran Governor's office said 80 students were injured on Saturday at one university dormitory when vigilantes burst into the campus and beat students in their beds.
Protesters have vented most of their anger on conservative clerics who control the key elements of power in Iran. But they have also condemned the reformist government of moderate President Mohammad Khatami, accusing him of failing to deliver change after six years in office.