Three gunshots rang out at one point but the cause of the
shooting was unclear and witnesses said the atmosphere was much
calmer than on previous nights when hardline vigilantes
wielding clubs, chains and knives had attacked the
demonstrators.
By 2.30 a.m. (6 p.m. EDT on Sunday) streets around the
campus were virtually empty of cars and pedestrians as the
heavy security clampdown appeared to be paying off for the
authorities.
The protests, which have included unprecedented insults
hurled at Iran's clerical leaders, have been welcomed by
Washington as a cry for freedom.
"This is the beginning of people expressing themselves
toward a free Iran which I think is positive," President Bush (news - web sites)
said on Sunday during a weekend break at Kennebunkport on the
U.S. Atlantic coast.
Iran has accused U.S. officials of orchestrating the
protests from afar and exaggerating their importance.
But while the protests in Tehran appeared to be fizzling
out or entering a lull, state media reported smaller
demonstrations in at least three other cities in which one
person was killed.
Protesters have vented most of their anger on conservative
clerics who control the key elements of power in Iran.
But they have also lambasted the reformist government of
moderate President Mohammad Khatami (news - web sites), accusing him of failing to
deliver change after six years in office.
The protests come as Iran faces mounting hostility from
Washington, which accuses it of seeking nuclear weapons and
supporting terrorism.
U.S. officials will be watching as the International Atomic
Energy Agency discusses a report this week which calls for
further inspections of Iran's nuclear program. Iran says its
atomic ambitions are limited to electricity generation.
U.S. WOULD WELCOME CHANGE
In the past 18 months U.S.-led forces have toppled the
rulers of Iran's two largest neighbors Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites).
U.S. officials say they would welcome a change of government in
Tehran though they stop short of embracing a policy of "regime
change."
A police spokesman said that some 60 people, including 32
policemen, were injured in Tehran and five banks, 22 cars and
34 motorbikes were damaged in four nights of unrest, the
official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
But Tehran Governor's office said 80 students were injured
on Saturday at one university dormitory when vigilantes burst
into the campus and beat students in their beds.
In an apparent effort to defuse the protests, police have
arrested several ringleaders of the pro-clergy vigilantes who
terrorized protesters in Tehran two nights ago, smashing car
windshields and beating people with bars and chains.
Police chief Brig. Gen. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told IRNA
109 "hooligans" were arrested. No students were detained, he
said.
Residents near the dormitory, where the protests began last
week, said they heard three gunshots early on Monday.
"As soon as I heard the shots I rushed out of my house to
see what was happening. But I couldn't see anything," said one
19-year-old man, who refused to give his name.
Dozens of hardline militants, recognizable by their beards,
untucked shirts and trademark clubs and chains, walked between
lines of cars, searching some and threatening drivers who dared
to honk their horns in a sign of support for the protests.
But the menacing presence of the vigilantes prevented
people from gathering to chant slogans against Iran's clerical
leaders as occurred on the first few nights of demonstrations.
