A number of Britons have been arrested in Tehran following clashes between protesters and police, Iran state television has reported.

Amateur video purports to show new violence in Tehran

The Iranian intelligence minister was quoted on IRINN as saying British passport-holders involved in the unrest have been detained.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei also blamed England for issuing propaganda against Iran.

IRINN quoted Mr Ejei as referring to the “meddling of some alien countries” and saying that one which “strongly propagated in its media against the Islamic Republic of Iran and some of its agents have been involved in Iran’s tension is England”.

A spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: “We are aware of the statement that has been broadcast on Iranian state television but we have had no formal notification of any arrests.

He went on: “We have no way of confirming whether people have been detained but the consular staff at the embassy will making enquiries at the earliest opportunity.”

Witnesses in Tehran say protesters and riot police clashed in the streets around Iran’s parliament.

Three witnesses told The Associated Press hundreds of protesters had gathered in a square next to the parliament building in defiance of government orders to halt demonstrations demanding a new presidential election.

Election Protests: Live Inside Iran

The police beat the protesters with batons, released tear gas and fired gunshots in the air, the witnesses said.

Some demonstrators reportedly fought police while others fled to another of the city’s squares about one mile to the north.

Another witness told Reuters news agency police and protesters clashed in Baharestan Square but said there were no casualties.

However, a woman who said she witnessed the violence told CNN: “This is a massacre.”

Amateur video posted on the internet purportedly shows the chaos on the streets amid the renewed violence.

Young men and women can be seen throwing rocks and pushing barricades, one blazing, in the street.

Others shout: “Death to the dictator!”

It is not possible to verify the video because of government reporting restrictions.

Iran has ordered journalists for international news agencies to stay in their offices, barring them from reporting on the streets.

But Twitter users, who claim to be in Tehran, also said police were beating people on the streets and shooting “people like animals”.

“I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads – blood everywhere – pepper gas like war,” persiankiwi writes in English.

“They were waiting for us – they all have guns and riot uniforms – it was like a mouse trap – ppl being shot like animals.”

Sky News does not know who this user is but they have supplied information over the last week which appears to suggest they are messaging from inside Iran.

Twitter user persiankiwi also reported seeing seven or eight militia using batons to beat a woman on the ground.

“She had no defence nothing – sure that she is dead.”

The user went on to say people are fleeing into alleys where militia are waiting for them, writing: “From 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys.”

More ominously the user wrote: “All shops was closed – nowhere to go – they follow ppls with helicopters – smoke and fire is everywhere.”

Another twitter user, iranelection09, wrote: “Baharestan Sq. was Tiananmen Sq. today, just vicious violent i dont know what to call them, they’re not human.”

But Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall warns: “Anything on Twitter has to be treated with caution.

“Yesterday people were twittering about a huge demonstration outside the British embassy in London two hours before it even began.

“Obviously there are one or two Twitterers that we have noticed consistently getting it right.”