Pro-reform students clashed with hard-line Islamic fundamentalists who tried to stop a speech by a reformist journalist at a university in central Iran, causing a number of injuries, witnesses said Friday.
They claimed that in Thursday's incident hundreds of members of the Ansar-Hezbollah movement had tried to prevent a meeting of the pro-reform Office for Consolidation and Unity (OCU) at Arak.
The OCU is the main student organization, backing reformist Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, AFP reported.
The fundamentalists attacked speaker Hamid-Reza Jalaipur’s car. He managed to get into the meeting and deliver a speech calling for democracy and freedom of the press in Iran.
The witnesses added that some students had been struck and injured by members of Ansar-Hizbullah, which makes a habit of disrupting pro-reform meetings.
The university labeled the demonstration illegal, saying the OCU gathering had been officially authorized. (Albawaba.com)
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