The opposition protests in Iran have been revived by the Shiite Tasoua and Ashura festival, resulting in the first protest deaths since the post-election protests in June. And one of the dead, according to Iranian opposition news sources, is the nephew of the opposition leader who took on the mullahocracy in those elections. More from Reuters:

“Four people died in Tehran on Sunday when pro-reform protesters clashed with security forces, Iranian state TV said, in the worst outbreak of violence since June’s contested election sparked political turmoil.

Opposition websites said eight people were killed when tens of thousands demonstrated across Iran during a Shi’ite Muslim religious festival.

Among the dead was opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi’s nephew. State TV said ‘unknown assailants’ killed Ali Habibi Mousevi. A Mousavi aide described the death as a ‘martyrdom’.

Opposition website Jaras said police shot and killed four protesters in central Tehran. State TV dismissed foreign media reports that security forces had killed protesters. It said police had fired into the air to disperse demonstrators.

Over 300 protesters were arrested in Tehran, state TV said.

‘Dozens of police officers have been injured including Tehran’s police chief,’ the TV quoted Ahmadreza Radan, Iran’s deputy police chief, as saying. He said one person fell from a bridge, two died in car accidents and one was shot dead, but not by police.

Jaras said that by Sunday evening, Mousavi’s supporters in Tehran were marching towards the hospital where his nephew’s body was being kept.

Shots were heard in northern Tehran after nightfall.

Jaras said unrest spread to other parts of Iran, including the holy city of Qom. Clashes erupted in the cities of Shiraz, Isfahan, Najafabad, Mashhad and Babol, it said, in reports that could not be independently verified.

…’We will kill those who killed our brothers,’ Jaras quoted demonstrators as chanting.”

The state-controlled media in Iran are kept on a short leash, so don’t expect to get the real story from IRNA or Fars.

(Photo by Majid/Getty Images)