Iranian Demonstrations Continue Demanding Change

11/06/2003| IslamWeb

Thousands of Iranians early Thursday protested for a second night against the country's clerical rulers and demanded the resignation of moderate President Mohammad Khatami for failing to bring about quick reforms. Hundreds of riot police stood by in side streets near the Tehran University campus, where about 3,000 demonstrators gathered to support students, who were surrounded by other police units inside. "Tanks, artillery and guns no longer have any power," the protesters chanted. "Khatami, Khatami, resign, resign." Demonstrators have accused Khatami of being too soft on hard-line rivals and said reform in the Islamic Republic might move faster without him. Cars formed traffic jams with horns blaring as people tried to get to the area after U.S.-based Iranian exile satellite television stations gave news of the protests. Police with batons broke up a similar protest in the early hours of Wednesday and arrested about 80 people. Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said that "local radicals and foreign agents" had instigated the demonstrations. Analysts predicted more protests as the fourth anniversary of violent student unrest in 1999 approached early next month. "Our society now is like a room full of gas ready to ignite with a small spark," one parliamentarian who declined to be identified told Reuters. Many in Iran have lost faith in Khatami and his lack of progress in reforming the 24-year-old Islamic Republic in the face of strong opposition from conservatives appointed to powerful state posts. High unemployment and frustration with Iran's strict Islamic laws have fed discontent among the overwhelmingly youthful population, about 70 percent of whom are under 30 and have little memory of life before the revolution. The protests follow increasingly tough rhetoric aimed at Tehran from Washington, which accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism -- charges Tehran denies. U.S. hawks have called for action to destabilize clerical rule. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was working to persuade Iranians to force change from within to make Iran what he called a less troublesome member of the world community. Washington, which cut ties with Tehran after the 1979 revolution, has branded Iran part of an "axis of evil," along with North Korea and Iraq. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iranian police block traffic near Tehran's Shahid Beheshti University to prevent the public from entering the vicinity around the university in the early hours of June 12, 2003. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters)