13/06/2003 - 06:04:26
Hundreds of protesters called for the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei as thousands of onlookers watched early today, the third day of demonstrations in Tehran despite threats by the hard-line regime to crack down to end the disturbances.
The three nights of demonstrations have produced the largest outpouring of public opposition against Iran’s leadership in months, involving hundreds of young Iranians, some still teenagers.
They shouted chants including, “Khamenei the traitor must be hanged”, “Guns and tanks and fireworks, the mullahs must be killed”, and “Student prisoners must be freed”, witnesses said.
The demonstrators concentrated in two areas, around Tehran University and near the Intercontinental Hotel, though the protesters had left the university area late last night.
Before they dispersed, police had prevented some two dozen pro-Khamenei vigilantes on motorcycles from confronting the students.
Thousands of people looked on, sometimes clapping with the protesters and taking up their chants. Residents near the university hospital left their doors open so that demonstrators could find quick shelter if the authorities cracked down.
Similar scenes were evident near the hotel, where about 500 hard-liners on motorcycles chased down protesters, beating them with cattle prods and circling around, gunning their engines, witnesses said. Some onlookers struck back at the vigilantes, hitting them with their fists. Near the hotel, two motorcycles were set aflame.
Riot police later rushed the crowd near the hotel, dispersing the demonstrators and sending the onlookers running. Even as it approached 2am local time today, traffic was bumper-to-bumper in central Tehran as curious residents stayed out to watch developments.
Though the demonstrators seemed disorganised, with no apparent leadership, the country’s hard-line clerics were clearly taking them seriously.
Khamenei, in a speech broadcast on state television and radio, referred to violence in 1999 when security forces and extremist supporters of hard-line clerics attacked students protesting media restrictions. At least one student was killed and the clash touched off the worst street battles since the 1979 revolution that ousted the US-backed shah.
“If the Iranian nation decides to deal with the (current) rioters, it will do so in the way it dealt with it on July 14, 1999,” Khamenei said.
“It should not be allowed that a group of people contaminate society and universities with riots and insecurity, and then attribute it to the pious youth,” he said.
But the protesters ignored Khamenei’s warning. Some in the crowd urged demonstrators to gather again after a soccer match tonight between two popular teams. They said demonstrations would continue until the July anniversary of the 1999 protests.
Reformist newspapers, which reflect the thinking of some established politicians who have been fighting for change for years, offered little commentary on the unrest the two days before.
The young demonstrators face a determined foe that has defied popular calls for reform for years and is likely to justify anything done to restore calm - including violence – in the name of Islam.
Exiled opposition groups, on the other hand, have seized the opportunity created by restless Iranian youth, encouraging dissent through avenues like Los Angeles-based Persian TV channels. US pressure on Iran, which Washington accuses of hiding a nuclear weapons programme and harbouring terrorists, may have further emboldened those who hope to see the regime toppled.
Late yesterday, hundreds of police locked down central Tehran and blocked off all streets leading to a dormitory housing Tehran University students. Police also prevented people from gathering in the streets.
About 200 students milled inside the dormitory grounds, occasionally throwing stones from behind the main gate at the police, who did not respond.
People on foot and carloads of interested onlookers converged on the scene to take in the overwhelming police presence and apparently to witness any repeat of the previous two nights’ clashes, but were prevented from going anywhere near the dormitory.
Demonstrators also called for the resignation of President Mohammad Khatami, a popularly elected reformist, accusing him of not pushing hard enough for change.
Iran's conservative supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appealed to hardline vigilantes yesterday not to take the law into their own hands after a second night of anti-regime student protests in Tehran.
The vigilantes, an offshoot of the revolutionary guards who helped to create the clergy-run system in 1979, had arrived on motorbikes to back up police, and taunt and attack students at the start of protests on Tuesday.
Their actions provoked a bigger student gathering on Wednesday evening at a university dormitory, where violence had erupted between police and protesters four years ago. While some students in the 3,000-strong crowd denounced the leading moderate, President Mohammed Khatami, others chanted "Death to Khamenei".
One Reuters reporter claimed that students had seized three plainclothes Islamic militiamen after they entered the campus during clashes.
"They had walkie-talkies, chains, gas spray, and their pockets were full of stones," a student said.
In a clear sign that the establishment is worried that protests could get out of hand, the ayatollah went on television yesterday to urge caution on the vigilantes and blame the US for stirring up trouble.
"Now America itself is openly saying it wants to create disorder inside Iran. Their solution is to create disputes among the people and separate the people from the system," he said. He urged "young believers" - Islamic militiamen and vigilantes - not to be drawn in.
Several reformist papers called on students yesterday not to go too far with their demonstrations, which began as a protest over privatisation but has escalated into calls for political prisoners to be freed and for a secular regime.
The newspaper Tose'eh urged them to "use their wisdom and awareness", warning that protests only played into the hands of the anti-reform lobby.
Debate over the pace and scope of reform has raged in the media and parliament for several years, although there is an informal agreement that street protests could have unforeseen consequences.
With the revolution almost a quarter of a century old, a new generation has emerged which is less interested in the old consensus. Rising unemployment, despite healthy oil revenues, adds to their anger.
It is hard to predict whether the demonstrations will escalate further - large pro-reform protests took place four years ago but fizzled out, while last autumn's support of a popular academic sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy also faded away.
Reformist MPs working within the system are focusing on gaining support for a referendum on reducing the powers of clerics and even towards separating mosque and state.