109 arrests at Iran protests: Tehran police chief

Iranian police arrested 109 people during opposition protests on the sidelines of an official rally marking three decades since the seizure of the US embassy, Tehran's police chief said on Saturday.

"A hundred and nine people were arrested. Forty-seven were released on bail," General Azizollah Rajabzadeh said, adding the files of those in prison were with judicial authorities, according to Mehr news agency.

State news agency IRNA reported later that the authorities released 30 more people -- leaving 32 still in detention.

Several journalists were arrested on the sidelines of the demonstration, including AFP reporter Farhad Pouladi who was freed on Saturday, IRNA said.

Police on Wednesday fired tear gas in central Tehran to disperse groups of protesting opposition supporters as thousands of Iranians staged the annual anti-US rally outside the former US embassy building to mark the 30th anniversary of its storming by Islamist students.

The opposition has since June been staging protests in the capital against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a presidential poll they claim was massively rigged.

Two reformist leaders, Ali Tajernia and Ebrahim Amini, who had been arrested in the protests following the June 12 vote have been released on bail, IRNA said on Saturday.