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Following an anti-government demonstration by more than 3,000 Tehran University students, the Ministry of Intelligence arrested at least 116 of them, reports from Iran say.
According to a statement by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, State Security Forces have surrounded the student dormitories and closely control all roads leading to Kouy-e Daneshgah, where the protests erupted.
On January 4, Tehran University students staged a six-hour protest at Kouy-e Daneshgah, in North Amirabad Ave. (west Tehran), chanted "Death to Despotism," shattered the windows of the dormitory's administrative building, and blocked the roads in much of the surrounding areas. The clerical regime dispatched Guards Corps units to clamp down on protesters, but did not manage to do so due to strong public support for the students.
"Reports from Iran indicate that in the
ensuing days, the Ministry of Intelligence secretly arrested those students
suspected of having organized the demonstrations and of active opposition
to the regime," the statement said.
Iran to Host U.N. Human Rights Workshop?!, Reuter, January 12
TEHRAN - The United Nations will hold a regional human rights workshop in February in Iran, recently criticized by the world body for its human rights practices.
A U.N. spokesman in Tehran said on Monday the sixth Asia-Pacific workshop on the promotion and protection of human rights would be held there from February 2 to 4….
The U.N. General Assembly in December called on Iran to stop executions for non-violent crimes and establish human rights for women and minority religions such as the Baha'i faith.
It passed a resolution expressing concern about "the large and increasing numbers of executions" as well as cases of "torture, degrading treatment or punishment," including the stoning of women and amputations.
Iran rejected the resolution, saying the issue was used as a political tool.
Dissident Cleric Roils the Waters in Iran,
The Wall Street Journal, January 13
QOM, Iran - Even as he pursues a detonate with the U.S., Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is trying to maintain peace with his country's hard-liners. His success will depend not only on events in Tehran and Washington, but also on a small office off a main street in this theological city.
Here, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a 76-year-old cleric with a squeaky voice, prompted street fighting, an attack on his office and a constitutional crisis in November with a lecture criticizing Iran's hard-line religious leadership.
Hard-liners are vowing to muzzle the increasingly vocal critic for good. The authorities recently filed charges against one liberal activist who corresponded with Ayatollah Montazeri. Iran has kept the cleric shut off from contact with others, and even family members say they've been turned away from his office in recent weeks. But the clampdown threatens to rile Ayatollah Montazeri's many supporters, and tensions could rise again during the current holy month of Ramadan.
Ayatollah Montazeri's story shows the limitations of the U.S. tendency to divide Iran into moderates and conservative mullahs. President Khatami alluded to that tendency during his interview with Cable News Network Wednesday, saying, "Terms like conservative and moderate and the like are more often meaningful in the West."…
Mr. Montazeri's agitation could complicate any rapprochement with the U.S., which is leery of getting in the middle of internal power struggles in Iran….
Also at stake is Mr. Khatami's promise of a society built on civil laws. At Ameer Kabir University, considered the most politically active campus in Tehran, students shrug when asked if they have gained freedom of expression since the May election. "When there is a speech, for every student there's one security guard," complains a student….
Mr. Khatami has tried to keep a safe distance from Ayatollah Montazeri. He didn't respond to a letter from the cleric in May. And during Wednesday's TV interview, Mr. Khatami said his views in favor of rule of law and against U.S.-flag burning were the same as Ayatollah Khamneei's, adding, "There should be one government."…