Free Republic

ISTANBUL, June 13 -- Clashes between students and security forces in Tehran appear to be the most significant civic protests inside Iran for in almost five years, analysts and witnesses say, but it was far from clear this morning whether the unrest would extend to the general population.Authorities made a huge show of force at Tehran University Thursday night, busing in hundreds of riot police to deter students from mounting a third night of protests. Witnesses said students gathered in a dormitory for hours after dark weighing whether to risk clashes with police and the basij militia who serve as...

TEHRAN, March 9 (AFP) - More than 120 Iranian MPs sent an open letter to President Mohammed Khatami denouncing measures taken against student leaders during protests in November over the sentencing of a dissident intellectual, IRNA said Sunday. The statement, signed by 125 of Iran's 290 MPs, blasted the "unjust measures taken by university disciplinary committees and certain security, police and judicial services against student leaders." The MPs asked Khatami, who heads the Supreme Council for National Security that ordered committees to take harsher measures, to ensure there was more leniency. Last November, Iranian students staged a series of large...