Reports from Iran indicate that around 8:00 pm today, hundreds of Tehran University students used the disqualification of some 1,000 candidates in the Presidential election farce as pretext to hold a protest gathering at the University and surrounding areas The students set fire to many tires and displayed outrage toward the clerical regime and its leaders by chanting “death to despotism, death to the dictator”. The gathering continued until 11:00 pm local time.
Fearing the spread of the protest, the clerical regime dispatched hundreds of State Security Forces (SSF) to the University and nearby areas. Brig. Gen. Morteza Tala’i, Tehran’s SSF commander, went to the scene to direct the crackdown on protest.
Also today, students at Sharif University of Technology in the capital held a protest gathering at the University’s main building (Avicenna Bldg.) and cancelled classes. They plan to continue their gathering tomorrow morning at 9:00 am.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 23, 2005
