Fierce clashes erupted on Monday in sensitive areas north of Tehran between security forces and members of the Sufi Gonabadi Dervishes group. Reports said that three Iranian policemen were killed after a Dervish bus driver ran them over. A video on social media showed a white bus ploughing through a group of around 40 riot police officers in a narrow street. The bus also strikes several parked cars as it tries to escape the scene, reported Reuters. Activists said that a number of protestors were also injured during Monday’s unrest. Fars news agency quoted Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, a spokesman for the police as saying that three policemen were killed in the clashes. “Three policemen are dead, and those who murdered them are under arrest,” he said. The spokesman accused “some disruptors of security and order” for using the bus to kill the three police officers. Al-Madi said that security forces would be very strict in dealing with any “illegal” act that threatens the country’s security. Iranian police had fired tear gas to disperse Dervishes and other demonstrators. The website “Majzooban,” linked to the Gonabadi Sufis, reported on Monday that some protesters were shot by the police, adding that some of the wounded were arrested in hospitals. Reuters reported that video footage posted on social media showed clashes between security forces and members of the Gonabadi Dervishes. It said those members had gathered in front of a police station, demanding the release of some members of their sect. According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), a non-profit group based in New York, several Dervishes have been arrested in the last two months. It said 10 members of the order were injured and three others arrested in the city of Kowar, in Fars province, on January 14 after police attacked a rally demanding the release of other Sufi detainees.