Clash with Sufis in Iran leaves five dead

TEHRAN, Feb 20 (AP): Overnight clashes between followers of a Sufi Islam leader and Iranian police killed five members of the security forces and injured 30, Iranian media reported Tuesday, the latest tension between the mystical order and authorities. Over 300 were arrested.

Supporters of Sufi leader Nourali Tabandeh have been holding sporadic sit-ins near his home in Tehran, worried that the 90-year-old former deputy justice minister after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution could be detained by police. That fear stems from the recent January protests in Iran in which police detained Sufis.