A backstage struggle among Iran's ruling clerics burst into the open yesterday when the government said it had arrested the daughter and other relatives of an ayatollah who is one of the country's most powerful men.

State media said the daughter and four other relatives of former president Hashemi Rafsanjani were later released but their arrests appeared to be a clear warning from the hardline establishment to a cleric who may be aligning himself with the opposition.

Iran's state-owned Press TV reported last night that Rafsanjani's daughter was still under arrest, citing an unnamed Iranian security official; the report was later denied.

Tehran's streets fell mostly quiet for the first time since a bitterly disputed June 12 presidential election, but cries of "God is great!" echoed again from rooftops after dark, a sign of seething anger at a government crackdown that peaked with at least 10 protesters' deaths on Saturday.

There were unconfirmed reports of small demonstrations and clashes yesterday, and stores were closed in Tehran neighborhoods that saw violence during the day.

Saturday's killings drove the official death toll to at least 17 after a week of massive street demonstrations by protesters who say hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole his re-election win.