( CNN ) -- The latest violent protests to hit Iran has prompted hundreds of arrests , including some prominent figures , and left at least eight dead , although the Iranian government denied its security forces have killed anyone . Iran 's Supreme National Security Council reported the eight deaths in a series of clashes over the weekend -- the deadliest since June protests followed the nation 's disputed presidential election . `` For months , the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights , '' U.S. President Barack Obama told journalists during a break from his Christmas vacation in Hawaii . `` Each time they have done so , they have been met with the iron fist of brutality , even on solemn occasions and holy days . '' `` It 's about the Iranian people and their aspirations for justice and a better life for themselves , '' Obama said . `` And the decision of Iran 's leaders to govern through fear and tyranny will not succeed in making those aspirations go away . '' In many cases , opposition media reported , government security forces prevented observances of Ashura , the major Shiite Muslim holy day marking the death of Imam Hussein , grandson of Prophet Mohammed , as a martyr . Iranian opposition Web sites have kept up a steady stream of reports about the clashes , but official news agencies been largely silent . The Fars news agency ran three pages of photographs of peaceful mourning ceremonies marking Ashura , but there was no mention of protests . The Iranian media blackout has made it difficult to verify accounts that leaked out , but videos that found their way west depicted bloodied and -- in some cases , apparently dead -- protesters . But officials like Iran 's Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan and Tehran Police Chief Azizollah Rajabzadeh denied their forces had killed anyone . In fact , they told the semi-official Islamic Students News Agency , their forces fired no weapons and were n't even carrying firearms . While the videos are dramatic and the news of deaths chilling , the roll call of arrestees grows longer and deeper into Iranian dissent . As many as 500 people may have been arrested in Isfahan , the opposition JARAS news agency reported , among them Habib Nouri , the 50-year-old brother of Abdollah Nouri , the revolutionary-leader-cum-reformist-politician who served nearly five years in Evin prison for religious and political dissent . Ayatollah Jaleleddin Taheri 's son was arrested in Isfahan , another reformist Web site , javan-farda.com , reported . The Iranian government began applying pressure to Taheri , who is married to one of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 's grandchildren , after he tried to lead a memorial service for Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri , the reformist cleric and key figure of the 1979 Iranian Revolution who died last week , the site said . The government denied Taheri permission to hold a mourning ceremony for Imam Hussein at Isfahan 's Grand Mosque , the Web site reported . Also arrested were Ibrahim Yazdi , head of the Freedom Movement of Iran and former deputy prime minister after the Revolution , and Emad Baghi , founder of the Association for Defense of Prisoners Rights , the reformist Web site Parlemannews reported . NoroozNews added the names of Ali Reza Beheshti Shirazi , son of the late Dr. Ayatollah Beheshti -- the founder of Iran 's post-revolutionary judicial system -- and two advisers to former opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi , Mohamad Bagherian and Behzadian Nejad , to those who have been arrested . Mousavi 's nephew , Saeed Ali Mousavi , was reported among the dead Sunday . Norooz also reported that government agents raided the offices of former reform President Mohammed Khatami 's Baran Institute , arresting former cabinet minister Morteza Haji and Hassan Rassouli , who is the deputy director of the institute . Another raid nabbed Mousavi Tabrizi , the head of the clerical Association of Teachers and Researchers Qom , NoroozNews said . And Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi told CNN Monday that Iranian intelligence officials had detained her sister , dentistry professor Nushin Ebadi .
As many as 500 protesters reportedly have been killed in Isfahan , according to an Iranian news agency . Some videos have shown bloodied and possibly dead protesters , but the government and their forces have fired no weapons .