DATE=7/13/99
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-43864
TITLE=IRAN STUDENTS
BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: FOR THE SIXTH DAY TUESDAY, IRAN'S CAPITAL HAS BEEN THE
SCENE OF ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATIONS BY THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS
DEMANDING REFORM. AS CORRESPONDENT NICK SIMEONE REPORTS, IT
DEPENDS WHO YOU TALK TO AS TO WHETHER THESE PROTESTS ARE A MAJOR
DEVELOPMENT THREATENING IRAN'S GOVERNMENT ... OR JUST A MINOR
EVENT SOON FORGOTTEN.
TEXT: FROM ALL ACCOUNTS, THESE DEMONSTRATIONS MARK THE MOST
SERIOUS, SUSTAINED SHOW OF OPPOSITION AGAINST THE IRANIAN
GOVERNMENT SINCE THE REVOLUTION 20 YEARS AGO THAT SWEPT THE SHAH
FROM POWER AND USHERED IN ISLAMIC RULE. REPORTS EMERGING FROM
THE COUNTRY INDICATE THE DEMONSTRATIONS HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY
VIOLENT AND HAVE SPREAD, WITH OTHER SEGMENTS OF SOCIETY JOINING
IN.
ELAHEH AMIR-ENTEZAM, WHOSE HUSBAND, ABBAS, HAS BEEN IN JAIL FOR
MUCH OF THE PAST 20 YEARS, WAS AMONG THE DEMONSTRATORS.
// AMIR-ENTEZAM ACT //
ORDINARY PEOPLE JOINED IT. I CAN TELL YOU AT THE PEAK,
WHICH WAS TWO DAYS AGO, ALL TOGETHER MAYBE THERE WERE
OVER 15- TO 20-THOUSAND PROTESTING AND USING SLOGANS
LIKE "FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF OPINION" AND ALL THE
THINGS THAT ACTUALLY 20 YEARS AGO WERE THE BASIS FOR THE
TOPPLING OF THE OLD REGIME AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
ISLAMIC REGIME IN IRAN.
// END ACT //
CROWDS OF STUDENTS HAVE IGNORED GOVERNMENT WARNINGS NOT TO
CONTINUE THEIR PROTESTS. SOME IN THE OPPOSITION, INCLUDING REZA
PAHLAVI, THE EXILED SON OF THE LATE SHAH, BELIEVE THESE PROTESTS
MAY BE PUSHING IRAN TO A TURNING POINT.
// PAHLAVI ACT //
WHAT WE ARE NOW WITNESSING IS PRACTICALLY A NEW PAGE IN
THE POLITICAL EVOLUTION OF MY COUNTRY. THIS IS
SOMETHING THAT WAS TO BE ANTICIPATED BECAUSE OF YEARS OF
FRUSTRATION AND LACK OF POLITICAL FREEDOM THAT THE
IRANIAN PEOPLE HAD TO FACE AND TODAY WE SEE A NEW
GENERATION THROUGH ITS STUDENT MOVEMENTS THAT ARE
EXPRESSING THE ASPIRATIONS THAT OUR NATION HAS. IT'S
NOT DISSIMILAR TO EVENTS THAT WE SAW UNFOLD IN THE
EASTERN BLOC COUNTRIES AS WELL AS IN CHINA AND OTHER
PLACES IN THE WORLD AND NOW IT'S HAPPENING IN TEHRAN AND
OTHER MAJOR CITIES IN IRAN AS WELL
// END ACT //
IRAN'S MAIN OPPOSITION GROUP, THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE,
IS IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE WHO SAY AS MANY AS 40 STUDENTS HAVE HAVE
BEEN KILLED IN CLASHES WITH POLICE AND PRO-GOVERNMENT VIGILANTES.
THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT PUTS THE FIGURE AT JUST TWO AND BLAMES THE
UNITED STATES FOR FOMENTING THE PROTESTS, A CHARGE THE U-S STATE
DEPARTMENT DENIED TUESDAY.
MANY OF THE STUDENT PROTESTERS WERE NOT EVEN ALIVE OR TOO YOUNG
TO REMEMBER THE STUDENT-LED REVOLUTION 20 YEARS AGO THAT SWEPT
THE AYATOLLAH KHOMENEI AND ISLAMIC RULE TO POWER.
GARY SICK, WHO AT THE TIME SERVED ON PRESIDENT CARTER'S NATIONAL
SECURITY COUNCIL, BELIEVES IT'S MUCH TOO EARLY TO LABEL THESE
STUDENTS THE LEADERS OF A NEW REVOLUTION -- ONE THAT IS IN FAVOR
OF A MORE MODERATE AND PRO-WESTERN LEADERSHIP.
// SICK ACT //
THE ATTACKS ON THE LEGITIMACY OF THE LEADER AYATOLLAH
KHAMENEI HAVE BEEN VERY STRIKING AND THAT REALLY IS A
FIRST. THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED BEFORE. IN THE END, IT'S
VERY DIFFICULT TO PREDICT HOW IT WILL PLAY ITSELF OUT.
BUT I DON'T DETECT A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF POPULAR
SUPPORT FOR ANYTHING LIKE A MAJOR OVERTHROW OF THE
GOVERNMENT AND MY GUESS IS THAT IN THE END THIS WILL
SEND A VERY, VERY POWERFUL WARNING TO THE HARD-LINE
SECURITY FORCES THAT THEY CANNOT ACT WITH IMPUNITY.
// END ACT //
GROUPS WHICH SUPPORT THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT ARE PLANNING THEIR
OWN DEMONSTRATION IN TEHRAN WEDNESDAY TO COUNTER EVENTS OF THE
PAST SIX DAYS. (SIGNED)
NEB/NJS/RRM
13-Jul-99 3:56 PM EDT (1956 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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