In the most serious violence since pro-democracy protests
applauded by Washington began four days ago, witnesses also
reported seeing riot police and hard-line vigilantes pulling
young women out of cars and beating them with sticks.
A Reuters correspondent saw more than 100 of the Islamic
militiamen, who wear no uniforms, swoop on a group of a few
dozen youngsters protesting around a bonfire in a side street
not far from the Tehran University dormitory, which has been
the focal point of demonstrations.
They piled out of pick-up trucks and off motorbikes. Most
were armed with sticks and chains but a few had Kalashnikovs.
"I heard three single shots and then a burst of automatic
gunfire, but I couldn't see where it was coming from or what it
was aimed at," the correspondent said.
He heard two other bursts of gunfire and saw a group of the
vigilantes beating one youth with chains and sticks.
The youths had been throwing stones and chanting slogans,
including "Death to Khamenei," a reference to Iran's Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has blamed Iran's arch-foe
the United States for stirring up unrest in the country.
Washington, which accuses Iran of building nuclear weapons
and sponsoring terrorism, has welcomed the protests which have
drawn up to 3,000 people on previous nights.
CHECKPOINTS ON STREETS
In a tense atmosphere in central Tehran, Islamic
militiamen, mostly belonging to the hard-line Ansar-e Hizbollah
group, manned checkpoints and looked carefully into vehicles
circling the streets around the university campus.
"They pulled some people out of their cars and beat them
with their fists and sticks. Even young girls were beaten," a
photographer at the scene said. "I've seen at least 10 injured
people. One man had a knife wound," he added.
One U.S.-based Iranian exile satellite television channel
reported clashes were also taking place in the central city of
Isfahan. This could not be immediately confirmed.
While venting most of their anger at unelected clerics who
wield ultimate power in Iran, the protesters have also
lambasted moderate President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites), whom they accuse
of failing to deliver promised reforms after six years in
power.
Analysts say the protests, while small, reflect widespread
frustration among Iran's mainly young population and are likely
to continue in the run-up to the July 9 anniversary of violent
student protests in 1999.
People in the bumper-to-bumper traffic in the streets
around the university clapped and honked horns in unison in a
show of support for the protests.
Inside the campus a few dozen students could be seen making
victory signs with their hands. Trees and shrubs along one side
of the campus were burning, apparently set alight deliberately.
Khamenei, who has the last word on all matters of state in
Iran, had Thursday called on vigilante groups such as Ansar and
the Basij volunteer force linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards
"not to enter the scene."
Influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
struck a conciliatory tone during a Friday Prayers sermon,
saying police had been ordered not to take "brutal action"
against protesters.
