Several thousand Tehranis took to the streets yesterday to celebrate Iran's victory, without the clashes which have broken out after football matches over the past two weeks.

All the major thoroughfares of the capital were clogged with horn-blowing motorists, their cars draped with Iranian flags.

Police and Islamic militiamen, deployed in force at main squares and avenues, watched the boisterous crowds without intervening.

Four times in two weeks, matches of the national team were followed by clashes between youths and security forces. More than 1,600 youths, mostly aged under 18, were arrested and risk facing Iran's revolutionary court.

The post-football unrest was not political but letting off steam by young people deprived of entertainment and jobs, a popular film director and reformist deputy told AFP on Tuesday.

The eruptions "have no political slant as young people are depoliticised," Behrouz Afkhami said. "Young Iranians cannot amuse themselves. There are not enough jobs and in a few years, we risk seeing one in three unemployed," he said.

"So, they take every opportunity to have a party." But he said "these outbursts carry no political overtones," although demonstrators have chanted anti-government slogans.