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Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to a crowd of thousands in Varamin, a town he visited outside Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 12, 2003. Khamenei urged hard-line vigilantes not to intervene in riots after two nights of protests against the clerical regime. 'I call on the pious and Hizbollahi guards (hard-line vigilantes) throughout the country not to intervene wherever they see riots,' said Khamenei.

Iranians chant slogans during a student protest against privatizing some of Iran's universities that turned into a larger demonstration against the hard-line clerics that rule the country, Tuesday, June 10, 2003. About 300 male students had gathered outside dormitories at Tehran University, along with 200 women who were demonstrating from inside its gates. The men then started marching up and down a main street nearby and were joined by about 300 people. 'The clerical regime is nearing its end,' the protesters chanted.

Iranian police take their positions to quell disturbances at the Tehran University dormitory complex June 12, 2003. Thousands of Iranians protested against their Muslim clerical rulers for a second night as the biggest anti-establishment demonstrations for months appeared to gather momentum. Voicing anger at moderate President Mohammad Khatami as well as the hard-line clerics who have blocked his attempts at reform, some 3,000 people gathered early on Thursday chanting 'Death to dictators.'

Japan Arrests Five in Iran Missile Case (washingtonpost.com)

TOKYO, June 12 -- Japanese police today arrested five officials of a Tokyo company and charged them with illegally selling Iran machinery that can help manufacture solid rocket fuel, a key element in making long-range ballistic missiles.

The firm, Seishin Enterprise Co., allegedly sold the same machinery to North Korea in 1994, but the statute of limitations for that transaction has expired.

The arrests come as Japan tries to clamp down on the flow of technology and equipment to weapons programs in North Korea and other countries.

ARRESTS OVER ILLEGAL EXPORTS

Tokyo police have arrested five people on suspicion of illegally exporting machinery to Iran that could be used for missile development. The police are also looking into the suspected illegal export of similar machinery to North Korea aboard the North Korean ferry Mangyongbong. Among those arrested are Haruhiko Ueda, the president of a Tokyo machinery maker, Seishin Enterprise Company. Police say that Mr Ueda and the others are suspected of exporting two grinding machines, called "jet mills," to Iran between 1999 and 2000. This would violate the foreign exchange control law and other regulations. Jet mills can be used to grind materials to produce solid fuel for missiles. The police believe senior management authorised the exports. Seishin reportedly received an order for a jet mill in 1994 from a company related to the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. It is alleged that the jet mill was later exported to North Korea via the port of Niigata on the Japan Sea coast, aboard the Mangyongbong.