Iran's angry young adults erupt in political protest

Another factor conservative clerics are not paying enough attention to, experts say, is that 70 percent of Iran's 65 million population is less than 30 years of age, have little memory of the 1979 revolution, and are the ones who swept President Khatami into power.

Witnesses note that students now make up less than 10 percent of the several thousand demonstrators who have taken to the streets five nights running They also note that Farsi-language broadcasts beamed by pro-monarchist Iranian stations in the United State have helped fan disenchantment.

Leading prayers in Tehran last Friday, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president, warned young Iranians "not to be trapped by the evil television networks that Americans have established."

Analysts see no sign that such conservatives are ready to compromise with the demonstrators, and that the protest may well be crushed in coming days. But the impact appears to widen with every day - with reports Sunday that protests had spread to three smaller cities.

"It's a sign, [like] those small and relatively minor noises that can be heard when a dam is cracking," says Shahriar Rouhani, a professor of physics at Tehran's Azad University. "The engineer knows that this is not a joke ... [and] could result in a major catastrophe."

One sign of change is that Khatami is a special target this time. A majority of reformist deputies last month addressed a letter to Mr. Khamenei, suggesting changes and that he step aside - but hard-liners did not allow it to be published. Scores of reformist newspapers have been shut down, and activists arrested and tried. A final straw for many came when four reformist deputies in recent weeks traveled to several cities outside Tehran to give speeches, and were prevented every time by Hizbullah thugs.

The protests are energizing a political opposition faced with sinking morale in recent months.

"The reformists have been in a dilemma on whether to support the demonstrations," says Sadiq Zibakalam, a political scientist reached by phone at Tehran University. "The overt US support for them puts them in a very difficult situation.... It is debatable whether the US support actually helps the cause, or is counter-productive" because it gives ammunition to hard-liners.

Demonstrators vow to stay in the streets until July 9, the anniversary of the pro-democracy student revolts that were put down four years ago. So far, protesters have not been cowed by the chains and whips used by the hardline militias known as basiji and Hizbullah [soldiers of God] - the shock troops, used to brutally impose order on the streets in the past.

Just 200 yards from the Tehran home of the analyst who requested anonymity, on Friday night "young people using sticks attacked a group of Islamic militants, set fire to their motorbikes and beat them senseless," the analyst says. "Everyone was dancing around the fire."

The seasoned analyst also notes a big change in the perspective of the basijis as a force, which 20 years ago fought against Iraq and its allies.

"You define yourself by your enemies, and those were the superpowers back then," the analyst says. "But now they are fighting young people who put gel in their hair. That's the enemy. So it's demeaning, and not at all elevating for their self-image.

"The only way they can face it now is saying they're fighting these agents of America in our country."

• Material from the wire services was used in this report.

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