July 2, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 1,1424

TEHRAN: Student leaders, defiant after a wave of street demonstrations, are warning Iran’s political leadership that they will face full-blown confrontation unless political prisoners are released and a protest rally is allowed to go ahead.

“We openly declare that these words are the final words of dialogue between the student movement and the ruling establishment,” a group of students said in a letter addressed to the reformist president, Syed Mohammed Khatami.

Signed by 106 student leaders, the letter condemns the arrest of dozens of student activists and a ban on street rallies to mark the anniversary on July 9 of a raid on a Tehran University dormitory four years ago.

Following protests which erupted across the country earlier this month, the letter sets the stage for further possible unrest as the July 9 anniversary approaches. The students are also running out of patience with President Khatami, once hailed as their hero but now increasingly considered too timid to stand up to the conservatives who wield real power in Iran.

Mr Khatami’s failure to speak out clearly about the suppression of the student movement was “painful and disappointing”, the students said.

The letter told him: “We call on you ... to react before it is too late and adopt a reasonable solution, or otherwise have the courage to resign so that you do not justify oppressive policies and allow students to settle their accounts with the establishment.”

While city streets have returned to normal, the protests that erupted on June 10 and persisted for more than a week shocked the authorities in the level of anger that they expressed against the country’s religious rulers, specially against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenai.

“The protests were a serious alarm bell for the system,” Abdullah Momeni, a student leader, said.

“Two years ago, it was an open secret that the system was dysfunctional. Now people are saying it openly.” The disorganized and chaotic nature of the protests showed the need for a coherent opposition leadership which could harness public anger, said MrMomeni.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.