Iranian authorities need to determine whether...

Security forces in Iran clashed with opposition protesters on Saturday and Sunday. A total of 15 people died and over 300 demonstrators were arrested. Iranian police used tear gas to disperse protestors and were also reported to have fired shots into the air. Several police officers were injured.

"I believe that the situation is escalating as the authorities have no common policy on how to cope with it," Nina Mamedova, head of the Iran department at the Russian Academy of Sciences" Institute of Oriental Studies, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

She added that the authorities had to choose between "repressive" or "democratic" measures.

Mamedova said that the clashes over the weekend would force the Iranian authorities to make a final decision on "whether to admit their own mistakes and begin negotiating with the opposition or to step up repression."

The opposition supporters gathered in an apparent attempt to revive anti-government demonstrations

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