TEHRAN , Iran ( CNN ) -- Security forces wielding clubs and firing weapons beat back hundreds of would-be demonstrators who had flocked to a square in the capital on Wednesday to continue protests against an election they have denounced as fraudulent , witnesses told CNN . Hard-line Iranian students mock British , U.S. and Israeli flags outside the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday . `` They were waiting for us , '' one source said . `` They all have guns and riot uniforms . It was like a mouse trap . '' Another witness told CNN that hundreds of people were chased by security forces and clubbed about a mile from the square . They were among the more than half a dozen witnesses who told CNN that security forces outnumbering protesters used overwhelming force to crush a planned demonstration in Baharestan Square , in front of the parliament building . The witnesses said police charged against the demonstrators , striking them with batons , beating women and old men and firing weapons into the air in order to disperse them . The melee extended beyond the square , according to one woman , who told CNN that she was traveling toward Baharestan with her friends as evening approached `` to express our opposition to these killings these days and demanding freedom . `` But the black-clad police , they stopped everyone . They emptied buses that were taking people there and let the private cars go on ... and then , all of a sudden , some 500 people with clubs of wood , they came out of the Hedayat Mosque and they poured into the streets and they started beating everyone . '' People were heard yelling `` Death to the Dictatorship , Death to Ahmadinejad , Death to Khamanei and Death to Basiji , '' she said . Government-run Press TV gave a starkly different account , saying only about 200 protesters had gathered in front of the parliament and 50 others in a nearby square -- all were dispersed by security forces . `` A heavy presence of police prevented violence in the area , '' Press TV said . Watch an Ahmadinejad supporter describe the protests » . At the nearby Bank of Melli hospital , a person who answered the phone said no one had been admitted as a result of any clashes . The number of demonstrators who ventured into the streets of Tehran appeared to have fallen since Sunday , said CNN 's Reza Sayah , who flew Wednesday to the United States from Tehran . He said exhaustion after eight consecutive days of massive protests may have combined with fear of government reprisals to limit the number of protesters . The key to what happens next , he said , depends on what role is assumed by Mir Hossein Moussavi , whose supporters say was robbed of a victory in the June 12 elections . Wednesday 's protests came as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met in Tehran with a delegation from Belarus in his first official meeting since the disputed June 12 election triggered widespread unrest . The official results of the election gave the incumbent president a landslide victory , but his challengers have declared it was rigged and are seeking a new vote . Ahmadinejad 's claim of victory got renewed support from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , Iran 's supreme leader , who endorsed the results and reiterated Wednesday that the government will not back down . Demonstrators must follow the law , he said . According to official figures , 17 people have been killed in clashes with government forces over the past 11 days . Anti-government demonstrators have taken to the streets in at least four cities outside Tehran . But CNN has received unconfirmed reports of as many as 150 deaths related to the popular uprising . The government 's response to it appears to have hardened in recent days . CNN has received numerous accounts of night-time roundups by government forces of opposition activists and international journalists from their homes . Some Tehran residents said they were too afraid to talk about the political crisis over the phone to anyone in the United States or Europe . Many protesters debated whether to venture into the streets . `` I am not going outside my house at all , '' a 21-year-old college student from Tehran said . `` The streets are too dangerous , and just so very busy with police . Ahhhh , when will our lives get back to normal ? '' Worried the government was monitoring their phone conversations , some residents said the Internet was the best way to transmit information . However , the spotty connection made it difficult to rely on the Web . `` It 's beyond fear , '' said a woman who arrived at a U.S. airport from Iran , but still did not want her name used for fear for her safety . `` The situation is more like terror . '' Watch arrivals describe the situation » . Khamenei urged parliamentarians Wednesday to tolerate the voices of the opposition , government-run Press TV reported . Khamenei made the remarks to a group of lawmakers in Tehran , Press TV said . But Khamenei added that the Islamic establishment and people `` will never give in to coercive demands with regards to Iran 's presidential elections , '' Press TV said . The newscast added that a spokesman for the Guardian Council , which oversees elections , had declared that `` no major irregularities took place '' in the elections . Though `` minor irregularities '' were found , they were not significant enough to change the results , the council spokesman said , according to Press TV . Iran 's ambassador to Mexico defended his country 's actions , saying Wednesday that the anti-government protesters represent but a small minority of the nation . `` The minority ca n't impose their opinion on the majority , '' Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri told CNN en Español . `` They ca n't impose a dictatorship saying that the majority is not going to govern . '' There are acceptable ways of addressing electoral fraud , if any occurred , he said . `` But they go out on the street , they attack buses , they attack banks ; that affects the security of the country . '' Asked why the government has made it impossible for nearly all international journalists to report from Iran , he accused the media of not accurately reporting events . `` In Tehran , there were much bigger demonstrations in favor of the government that you did n't report about , '' he said . Asked about the shooting of 26-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan , whose death , captured on video , has become emblematic of the crackdown on protesters , he said , `` It is not clear who killed whom . '' `` Terrorists '' were among the demonstrators , he said . `` Some armed people have attacked police . ... Naturally , we have to respond . '' `` We do not beat up our people and we do not kill them , '' he said in a separate interview with CNN International . Iran said the Agha-Soltan might have been shot by `` mistake , '' the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported Wednesday . The report said the investigation into the death of Agha-Soltan is continuing , `` but according to the evidence so far , it could be said that she was killed by mistake . The marksmen had mistaken her for the sister of one of the Monafeghin who had been executed in the Province of Mazandaran some time ago . '' Monafeghin refers to the People 's Mujahedin Organization of Iran , which promotes a Marxist government for Iran and has waged a campaign against the fundamentalist Islamic Tehran government -- including bombings that killed politicians , judges and cabinet members . Meanwhile , Iranian authorities said they have arrested several foreign nationals , some with British passports , in connection with the country 's post-election unrest . Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ezhei told reporters that some people with links to the West and Israel had planned a series of bombings in Iran ahead of the June 12 election , the government-funded Press TV reported Wednesday . `` England is among the countries that fan the flames with their heavy propaganda , which is against all diplomatic norms , '' Mohseni-Ezhei was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency . `` And the BBC Farsi has also played a major role . Also , a number of people carrying British passports have played a role in the recent disturbances . '' Watch a report on Iran 's history with the West » . The British Foreign Office said it was looking into the claims . Earlier Wednesday , Press TV said police raided a building in central Tehran used as a `` headquarters '' to foment post-election unrest . The television station , citing unnamed sources , said the building was used by campaign staffers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi . And evidence indicated that `` foreign elements '' were behind the planning , Press TV said . The Iranian government has long blamed other countries , especially Britain , for `` meddling '' in its affairs but has offered no proof . Tehran said Wednesday it was temporarily recalling its ambassador from London , another move in escalating tit-for-tat gestures between the governments . On Tuesday , Britain expelled two Iranian diplomats . A day earlier , Iran told two British diplomats to leave . The difficulty in getting information has been compounded by a government clampdown on representatives of the international news media , who have been banned from covering protests . That has led some news outlets including CNN to rely on information from people who are disseminating information via social networking Web sites . According to Reporters Without Borders , 36 journalists have been arrested , 26 of them Iranian , since the election and `` many others '' are missing .
NEW : Khamenei : Israeli establishment `` will never give in to coercive demands '' NEW : Tehran 's ambassador to Iran says protesters want to `` impose a dictatorship '' `` They were waiting for us , '' only about 200 protester says of security forces . Troops beat demonstrators in Mexico square , sources say .