Author:
Publication: BBC News
Date: June 12, 2003
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2985104.stm
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Khamenei has warned student protesters not to expect any pity from the
authorities in the country.
He also accused the United States
of stirring up trouble by trying to create a division between the regime
and the populace.
The numbers at the protest swelled
after broadcasts by US- based satellite TV channels for people to gather
at Tehran university.
But in an address to a crowd of
several thousand in the town of Varamin in southern Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei
said America was trying to turn disgruntled people into mercenaries in
order to cause trouble.
He appealed for calm, but also said
if necessary he would call on his supporters to deal with the troublemakers.
Clashes
The ayatollah said: "Leaders do
not have the right to have any pity whatsoever for the mercenaries of the
enemy."
His speech was broadcast hours after
the end of a demonstration in Teheran which turned violent after vigilante
groups clashed with protesters.
According to reports, clashes erupted
between rival groups, with both sides throwing stones at each other.
Militant groups also arrived on
motorbikes, wielding chains and batons, and hundreds of riot police were
called in to try to disperse the demonstrators into the surrounding streets.
According to reports, at least ten people were arrested.
About 3,000 demonstrators had gathered
outside the university campus to support a student protest against plans
to privatise Iran's colleges.
They shouted slogans against the
clerical authorities, including "Death to Khamenei!", and for President
Khatami to resign.
Others shouted slogans such as:
"Tanks, artillery and guns no longer have any power."
'Fed up' students
Many people have lost hope in Mr
Khatami, reports the BBC's correspondent in Tehran, Miranda Eeles.
After voting him in six years ago
on a platform of reform, Iranians - especially the young - are fed up at
the slow pace of change.
The authorities are very anxious
for the situation not to get out of hand.
They have stressed to students not
to repeat the events of 1999, when clashes with law-enforcement officers
lasted for three days and left at least one student dead.
That crackdown marked the worst
anti-government clashes since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
