the cemetery , security forces used tear gas to clear the area of demonstrators and mourners . A witness said riot police and Basij militia were at the scene , but the confrontations with people in the crowd involved the militia . Watch a report on the memorial clashes '' The witness spotted instances of the baton-wielding militia charging the gathering , and said as many as nine beatings were seen . Other people appeared to have been beaten as they ran from police , the witness said . One of the mourners had a bloody head and one woman said she was struck on the back of the neck . One security force member sustained some sort of injury to the head and was bloodied . It is unclear exactly how that person was injured . A confrontation between women protesters and police also was seen . The women shouted , `` Do n't beat up our young people . You , our Muslim brothers . It is a shame to beat up our young people . '' The crowd chanted `` Ya Hossein , Mir Hossein , '' the first a reference to the revered Shiite imam and
TEHRAN , Iran -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Security forces in Iran on Thursday confronted thousands of protesting Iranians across the city , first at a cemetery and later at a prayer venue and near a government building , witnesses and news reports said . Mourners gather around the grave of Neda Agh-Soltan in Beheshte Zahra Cemetery . Clashes erupted at the cemetery as two of Iran 's main opposition leaders tried to join the several thousand people at a memorial for the slain woman who became the symbol of Iran 's post-election violence , witnesses said . The gathering was banned , but participants ignored the government strictures . However , security forces barred opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karrubi from the gravesite of Neda Agha-Soltan , the 26-year-old woman shot in election protests on June 20 , witnesses and news reports said . More than 3,000 people were gathered at Agha-Soltan 's grave , a witness said . Mourners arrived on the religiously significant 40th day after the fatal shooting in Tehran . For Iranians , a predominantly Shiite Muslim population , the 40th day after a death marks the last official day of mourning . At