Tehran (AsiaNews) – Tens of students and ordinary people were arrested yesterday inside and outside Tehran University after courageously demonstrating against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, media close to Iranian dissident groups report. Mr Ahmadinejad, who was speaking to mark the beginning of the school year, was heckled by more than a thousand protesters. Official media did not report the incident.
Students, who shouted “Death to the dictator,” clashed outside with young Basijis, a volunteer Islamic militia that supports the president. But special anti-riot units of the police in full gear did not intervene, choosing instead to patrol the campus.
This is the second time in less than a year that university students in Tehran mounted a protest against the unpopular president. Last December at Amirkabir University of Technology some students slammed Ahmadinejad and burnt him in effigy as Iran’s ‘small dictator.’ Nothing is known about them after they were arrested. Websites tied to Iranian political refugees claim that wing 209 in Evin Prison is full of young people arrested at that time, held in isolation.
Given this precedent, organisers of the president’s visit to the country’s most prestigious university took precautions. A smaller hall was used and only the most trustworthy professors were invited as were students from the Imam Hossein and Imam Sadegh universities, which are closely-tied to the regime.
Yet despite the precautions dissident students were able to speak out during the president’s speech, which went ahead as scheduled, the ISNA news agency reported.
For analysts, the massive presence of Basijis, security forces agents and intelligence ministry officials is a sign that the authorities are afraid of student movements, which are leading the struggle for democracy in the country.
