Tuesday, December 08, 2009
SECURITY forces and militiamen clashed with thousands of protesters shouting "death to the dictator" outside Tehran University yesterday, beating them with batons and firing tear gas on a day of nationwide student demonstrations, witnesses said.
The protests were the largest in months, bringing tens of thousands out in marches at more than a dozen campuses around the country and in several squares in Tehran, as university students – a bedrock of support for the pro-reform movement – sought to energise the opposition. The opposition has been reeling under a fierce crackdown since turmoil erupted over the disputed presidential election in June.
Thousands of riot police, Revolutionary Guard forces and pro-government Basij militiamen flooded the area around Tehran University since the morning, vowing to prevent any unrest from spilling out into the streets.
They sought to seal off the campus from the outside world. Banners and signs bearing slogans from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blanketed the tall university fence, hiding whatever took place inside. Phone networks around the universities were shut down, and police and members of the elite Revolutionary Guard surroundedentrances, checking IDs of anyone entering to baropposition activists, witnesses said.
"There’s anxiety that there will be violence and shooting. I shout slogans and demonstrate, but try not to provoke any clash with the security," said student Kouhyar Goudarzi. "We are worried."
The fiercest violence was on the streets outside. Thousands of protesters massed outside Tehran University in support of the students, chanting "death to the dictator," the witnesses said.
Riot police fired tear gas and Basij militiamen, some on motorcycles, charged the crowds. The plainclothes Basijis beat protesters on the head and shoulders as the crowd scattered, then regrouped on street corners, setting tyres on fire to ward off the stinging tear gas. Nearby, protesters and Basijis pelted each other with stones, the witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Shots were heard fired on nearby Enghelab Street, witnesses said. Pro-opposition websites reported that at least one protester was wounded in the area, but the reports could not be independently confirmed.
Inside Tehran University, hard-line students loyal to the government clashed with protesters in scuffles and fist-fights. A pro-reform student wearing a green headband was seen with blood streaming down his face after a beating. A young woman, overcome by tear gas, slumped to the ground, as two other students tried to help her.
Several thousand students marched through the campus, many of them wearing surgical masks or scarves over their faces to protect against tear gas. Some wore green wristbands and waved green balloons, the colour of the opposition movement of Mir Hossein Mousavi. Footage posted on YouTube showed some protesters burning pictures of Khamenei – breaking a major taboo against insulting the supreme leader, who stands at the pinnacle of Iran’s clerical leadership.
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