Bangla2000 | International News - 1st anniversary of bloody police raid


Iranian students carry a student who was attacked and wounded by hardliners at Enqelab square (in center of Tehran) in a demonstration to mark the first anniversary of the attack on a Tehran university dormitory by hardline vigilante-groups against pro-democracy students Saturday. July 8, 2000. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN (AP) - The brother of Iran's president - a Popular reformer in his own right - was quoted calling for peace Sunday following violent clashes between supporters and opponents of democratic reforms that left at least a dozen people injured.

Streets leading to Tehran University, where the clashes erupted on Saturday, were cleared overnight of shattered glass, sticks and stones and there was no sign of police or rioters.

"Violent reactions is what supporters of violence want. We should open the way for reforms through active tranquility and avoiding violence," the government daily Iran quoted house vice speaker, Mohammad-Reza Khatami, as saying Sunday.

Saturday's clashes began after thousands of rioters chanting slogans in condemnation of the clerical establishment were attacked with stones and chains by hard-line vigilantes leading to fierce scuffles for hours in the evening.

Saturday marked the first anniversary of a bloody police raid on a university dormitory. The violence overshadowed student groups' peaceful commemorations of the July 9, 1999, predawn raid that left one student dead and triggered the widest unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The Office for Fostering Unity, the largest pro-reform student group, said the rioters were not students.

State-run Tehran television, which is controlled by the hard-liners, said the rioters were "hooligans and agitators that were dispersed by the police forces."

Witnesses also said the rioters appeared to be hooligans rather than students with specific political demands.

Riots ended before midnight after thousands of hard-line vigilantes were brought in armed with sticks or iron bars.

Hard-liners, who control the police, judiciary and broadcast media, are increasingly using vigilantes to silence their opponents. They believe President Mohammad Khatami's attempts at broadening social and political freedoms conflicts with the country's Islamic ideals and have been trying to stem the push for reform.