DUSHANBE, February 15, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Thousands of opposition supporters protested in Tehran yesterday, BBC reports.  One person was reportedly shot dead in the violent clashes between protesters and security forces in central Tehran.  Dozens were detained, and opposition leaders were placed under house arrest.

The BBC received reports of banned demonstrations in other Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz.

In their first major show of dissent December 2009, when eight people were killed, thousands of opposition supporters gathered at Tehran''s Azadi Square on Monday in solidarity with the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.  They chanted: "Death to dictators".

Witnesses told the Associated Press new agency that at least three protesters had been wounded by bullets, with dozens of others taken to hospital as a result of the beatings.

Iran''s semi-official Fars News Agency (FNA) reported that one person was shot dead by protesters and several others wounded.

According to BBC, opposition websites said hundreds of people were arrested.  There has been no official confirmation.

As night fell, hundreds of riot police remained on the streets of the capital.

Earlier on Monday, police placed the opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, under house arrest and blocked access to his home.  His website said they intended to prevent the former prime minister attending the Tehran rally.  Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament and a senior cleric, is also reportedly being held under house arrest.

Both men disputed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, which triggered protests that drew the largest crowds in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.  The authorities responded by launching a brutal crackdown.

The opposition says more than 80 of its supporters were killed over the following six months, a figure the government disputes. Several have been sentenced to death, and dozens jailed.

In the meantime, Iran’s Press TV reported on Monday that small groups of anti-government protesters have disrupted order in the Iranian capital Tehran, prompting citizens to hold counter-demonstrations.

The protesters, mostly supporters of defeated presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, set fire to trashcans and chanted slogans against the government.  This is while the opposition had asked for permission to hold a public "in support of the people in Tunisia and Egypt."  The Iranian government, however, refused to give permission and declared all such rallies illegal.

Meanwhile, counter-demonstrations were held to denounce the move by the opposition to disrupt public order, and condemn the riots by the supporters of Mousavi and Karroubi, Press TV said.