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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (104356)	7/9/2003 9:13:59 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 281500

Looks like the "Mad Mullahs" have won for now. Iran students cancel protest to mark 1999 unrest By Jon Hemming TEHRAN, July 9 (Reuters) - Iranian student leaders backed down from protests in Tehran on Wednesday as police enforced tight security on the anniversary of 1999 unrest fearing a flare-up of last month's anti-clerical demonstrations. Authorities have banned off-campus rallies, closed university dormitories, postponed summer exams and vowed to deal strictly with any unrest after some 4,000 people were arrested in 10 nights of sometimes violent protests across the country in June. Students had planned to gather in front of the United Nations headquarters in Tehran and hold campus sit-ins to mark the day five years ago when hardline vigilantes fiercely loyal to conservative clerics attacked Tehran University dormitory, killing one person and sparking five days of mass protests. "The reason we cancelled the gatherings was... because of security issues," a student leader told Reuters. "We received information that the other side wanted to heavily confront it and we didn't want to harm the movement and pay this heavy price." A number of student leaders had been seized by unidentified assailants in the last weeks and their whereabouts was still unknown, he said. Many ordinary Iranians, frustrated by President Mohammad Khatami's failure to advance his reforms in the face of hardline opposition, pledged to join any student protests on Wednesday. The June demonstrations, though dwarfed by official marches, went one step beyond previous pro-reform protests with chants breaking the taboo of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and also condemning reformist leaders alike. The United States strongly backed the demonstrations and was accused by Iran of blatant interference in its internal affairs. Five reformist parliamentarians, allies of Khatami with close links to the student movement, appealed for calm. "We are kindly asking you to avoid any gatherings in front of the dormitories and international organisations and allow your demands to be followed up in a calm atmosphere," they said in a letter to student leaders. Witnesses said police and military units were posted outside the Tehran U.N. headquarters on Wednesday and photographers and camera crews were prevented from taking pictures of the scene. Khatami has remained largely mute on last month's protests, limiting himself to words of support for the democratic right to protest, while praising the actions of security forces. The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance which oversees press activities in Iran sent a fax to foreign news organisations telling them not to go to any demonstrations. "It is expected that you do not attend any possible illegal gatherings," the statement said. alertnet.org