Tehran Students Protest Iran President
CBNNews.com
October 9, 2007
CBNNews.com - Student protests seem to have followed Iran's top leader all the way home.
In a rare anti-government demonstration held in the Islamic country, a group of around 100 students at Tehran University staged a protest against their country's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling him a "dictator."
Last month the Iranian leader was greeted with protests for his controversial visit to Columbia University in New York City.
This week, the protesting in his own country occurred during a speech marking the beginning of the academic year at the university. Anti-government protests are rare in Iran.
The protest prompted some scuffles between the demonstrators and students who are loyal to Ahmadinejad.
Witnesses said the head of the Islamic state ignored protesters' chants of "Death to the dictator" and continued his speech on the merits of science and the pitfalls of Western-style democracy.
Tight Security
Before Ahmadinejad arrived at the school, students were allowed to gathered outside the campus. However, riot police stood guard behind locked gates.
Photos taken at the campus entrance and obtained by the Associated Press showed angry students trying to gain access with the gates padlocked shut. Police decked in riot gear were standing directly behind the gates.
Identity papers of all students entering the university were also checked. Security personnel allowed only selected students into the hall to hear Ahmadinejad's address.
But some protesters still managed to slip in.
The protesters dispersed after Ahmadinejad left the campus.
Iran's Reform Movement
Students were once the main power-base of Iran's reform movement. But they have faced intense pressure in recent years from Ahmadinejad's government.
Iran's reform movement peaked in the late 1990s after former reformist President Mohammad Khatami was elected and his supporters swept to victory in Parliament.
But during that time, hard-liners who control the judiciary, security forces and powerful unelected bodies in the government, stymied attempts to ease social and political restrictions.
Reformists - who want to loosen Iran's social and political restrictions and favour better relations with the U.S. - were further demoralized and divided after the 2005 election that brought Ahmadinejad to power.
Increasing Crackdown
In recent months, dissenters have witnessed an increasing crackdown in the country.
Hundreds of people have been rounded up on accusations of threatening the Iranian system. Numerous pro-reform newspapers have been shut down, and those that remain have been muted in their criticism fearing closure.
At universities, pro-reform students now only hold low-level meetings and occasional demonstrations to demand better school facilities or for the release of jailed students.
Meanwhile, pro-government student groups have grown more powerful.
Some dissenters blame the crackdown on the regime's fear of a U.S. effort to undermine it as tensions over Iran's nuclear program intensify.
Others say the intent is simply to contain the rising discontent throughout the country that is being fuelled by a faltering economy.
Popularity Falling
Ahmadinejad's popularity at home has fallen since he was elected. Critics, even among conservatives who used to support him, say he has failed to fix the economy and has hurt Iran's image internationally.
Elected on a populist agenda, Ahmadinejad has not kept his campaign promises to bring oil revenues to every family, eradicate poverty and tackle unemployment.
Instead, housing prices in Tehran have tripled, and prices for fruit, vegetables or other commodities have more than doubled since last summer.
Inflation further worsened after a 25 percent increase in fuel prices last May.
Source: Associated Press, ABC News
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