Anti-government Protests in Iran Ease After Violence

Anti-government Protests in Iran Ease After Violence
Thousands of Iranians took to the streets of central Tehran for the fifth straight night of anti-regime protests Saturday, but the overwhelming presence of police and pro-government militia resulted in muted demonstrations that passed off largely without incident. Only limited, sporadic clashes were reported around the Tehran university campus, the focal point of increasingly vitriolic protests that have targeted the very top of the Islamic republic. Large numbers of cars were seen driving in areas around the Tehran university campus, but the would-be demonstrators were matched in numbers by police and bused-in members of the hardline Basij militia -- among the toughest defenders of the nearly 25-year-old shia clerical regime. Club-wielding members of the Ansar Hezbollah group were also on the streets. Such was the overpowering presence of security forces and militiamen that few drivers dared to honk their horns -- a show of support for the student-led protest movement -- or get out of their cars. The few who timidly honked were quickly silenced with a reminder that vigilantes had on previous nights smashed in the windscreens of cars adding to the cacophony of defiance or dragged out and beaten its occupants. No slogans were heard being shouted either, and the demonstration -- more of a frustrating drive around -- was largely calm, in contrast to previous nights which saw spiraling tensions, fierce clashes and virulent slogans directed at Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However there were reports of renewed clashes in the southern city of Shiraz, with the student news agency ISNA saying demonstrators there again shouted virulent slogans that resulted in a number of them being arrested. There were also conflicting reports that a protestor had been killed there during the previous night's clashes. The clashes had been especially violent the previous night, with dozens of people injured, some critically, and scores of others arrested. Demonstrations had also taken place in the southeastern city of Ahvaz. Khamenei has accused arch-enemy the United States of orchestrating the unrest. Many protestors seeking to join the fray were answering calls from US-based Iranian opposition-run Persian language satellite television channels -- notably the Los Angeles-based pro-monarchist NITV. State television and radio also accused foreign media of distorting their coverage of unrest in line with an "imperialist and Zionist" plot against Iran. Foreign media in Tehran then received a written recommendation from the authorities not to travel to the scene of the protests overnight Saturday. Also Saturday, at least two leading members of Iran's liberal opposition, critical of certain facets of the Shiite regime, were arrested on charges of having secret contacts with students to plan the unrest, ISNA said. But some hardline vigilantes were also reportedly detained in the crackdown. During the student-led protests, the first to rock Iran for six months and the most violent since 1999 when at least one student died, virulent slogans have been shouted against Iran's leaders, including Khamenei, calling for them to step down. Criticising the supreme leader is a serious offence in Iran. Many protestors also called for the resignation of embattled President Mohammad Khatami, who was elected with landslide majorities in 1997 and again in 2001. Frustration has mounted in recent months over the seemingly intractable deadlock between reformists in parliament loyal to Khatami and hardliners who wield greater power through the courts and unelected legislative oversight bodies. **STRONG SUPPORT FROM US*** The protests have drawn strong support from the United States, where President George W. Bush lumped Iran into an "axis of evil" along with North Korea and Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The White House on Saturday denounced the crackdown, saying it was "alarmed" by reports of arrests and calling on the cleric regime to free any detained demonstrators. "The United States views with great concern the use of violence against Iranian students peacefully expressing their political views," spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a statement. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A handout picture from the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) shows the aftermath of protests in front of the dormitory of Tehran University. (AFP-ISNA-HO/File)

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