TEHRAN - Islamic militants wielding sticks, stones and chains attacked a pro-democracy rally of about 2,000 students Monday in Tehran. At least 20 people were injured, mostly students.

The Islamic Students Association organized the rally to protest the influence of the hard-line clergy in Iran. About a third of the participants were women in traditional black veils.

About 60 militants affiliated with Ansar'e Hezbollah attacked the rally. The hard-liners -- whose ranks eventually swelled to about 400 -- also heckled police and called for the resignation of the interior minister, Abdollah Nouri, whom they described as incompetent.

Students choked and coughed when tear gas canisters were thrown into the crowd. It was unclear who hurled them.

Street Clashes Spotlight Factional Struggle, Reuter, May 26

DUBAI - Street clashes and public disputes in Iran point to a sharpening conflict between those backing President Mohammad Khatami and conservatives fearing the abandonment of Islamic principles.

Iranian political analysts said on Tuesday a recent move to allow political parties was unlikely to dampen the struggle between the two factions, at least in the immediate future.

Conservatives have blasted Nouri [the Interior Minister] for authorizing meetings by dissidents and students who have questioned the powers of religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The attack on the rally yesterday showed that the hardliners have stepped up their campaign against critics," a Tehran-based journalist said.

Residents said it was among the most violent political clashes in recent years, with hardliners using sticks, stones and knuckle-dusters to disrupt the event.

Clerics Protest Against Students, Press, Agence France Presse, May 26

TEHRAN - Conservative Iranian clerics staged a rally in the holy city of Qom on Tuesday to protest against lively celebrations at a ceremony marking the anniversary of President Khatami's election.

Iran's official news agency IRNA put the number of demonstrators at 20,000, mostly professors and students at the school of theology in Qom, central Iran.

The Western-style cheering by tens of thousands of mainly young people -- particularly during the solemn mourning month of Moharram -- angered many fundamentalists.

"Today is the day of mourning," "Our condolences to our great religious leaders," "The sanctity of the day of mourning is violated," were some of the slogans shouted by the clerics.

"The clerics will no longer tolerate such disrespect against the innocent Imams and the month of Moharram," warned one protester.

The protesters also called on the culture ministry to purge the press from "opposition elements and urged the interior ministry not to issue permits to critics for street demonstrations.

Hardliners Step Up Pressure on Press, Agence France Presse, May 26

TEHRAN - The Iranian press is coming under mounting pressure from Islamic hardliners.

Those newspapers and magazines supporting Khatami are bearing the brunt of attacks from the conservatives and fundamentalist forces who accuse them of seeking to undermine Islamic and revolutionary values.

Jameeh daily angered the conservatives after publishing last month harsh remarks attributed to the Revolutionary Guards' commander, General Rahim Safavi, threatening to clamp down on internal dissent and criticism.

Meanwhile, the police filed charges against a women's magazine, Zanan, accusing the monthly of "insulting" the force after it published an article on the problems women faced with the authorities on Iranian beaches, which are segregated by sex.

But the pressure against the press transcends legal action.

"Many newspapers and magazines have been transformed into a tool for cultural corruption under the name of 'freedom.' They have staged a coup against Islamic and revolutionary values," said conservative MP Mehdi-Reza Darvish-Zadeh.

"They have a premeditated goal to strip the young of their faith. A conspiracy is in the offing," he added, quoted by newspapers.

In the latest warning from the Revolutionary Guards, a commander, Colonel Kazem Rasulian, threatened to "suppress domestic conspirators."

"Freedom does not mean that anyone can write anything he wants, or insult them. This is an abuse of the concept of liberty," he warned, quoted by the English-language Iran Daily.
 

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