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Jonathan Lyons
TEHRAN, JULY 21: Iran's biggest student group has blamed the recent unrest on the government's failure to deliver on its reform promises and has cast doubts on official assertions that the troubles were the product of foreign hands.
At the same time, the Office to Consolidate Unity (OCU), an umbrella movement close to moderate President Mohammad Khatami, denounced a letter from revolutionary guards commanders criticising Khatami as too soft on the protesters, some of whom openly challenged Iran's system of clerical rule.
The OCU said Khatami's administration had fallen short of promises to introduce a civil society and to break the grip of hardline groups that enforce their own vision of revolutionary and Islamic values.
``If we take a deep analytical look, we see the events of last week are a manifestation of the government's inability to address what the nation wants and calls for,'' Ali Afshari, head of the OCU's political desk, told a news conference.
``The government ignored these calls,creating an atmosphere ready for trouble,'' Afshari said.
Government statements have largely focused on the role of dissident students with alleged ties to US-based ``spies and Zionists'' in fomenting the unrest, which culminated last week in some of the worst riots since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
But on Monday, a hardline daily carried a letter from 24 hardline Revolutionary Guards chiefs accusing Khatami of coddling the protesters and ignoring their open challenge to Iran's Islamic system.
``All of us certainly have considered you and still see you as a revolutionary and devout person with a deep religious commitment... but (your) way of dealing with events... has encouraged those hostile to the Revolution and discouraged and humiliated the Revolution's supporters,'' the letter said.
``Honourable Mr Khatami, how long must we weep, worry, `practice democracy' and show revolutionary patience at the risk of our system's destruction in the midst of chaos and insults?''
The students, however, saidthe guards; commanders had over-stepped their authority and violated an order from the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for the armed forces to stay out of factional politics.
``We know there are rogue groups inside the police, and we can say that there are also rogue groups in the armed forces. All such groups must be uprooted,'' Afshari said.
State-run television on Monday showed what it said were ``confessions'' by Manouchehr Mohammadi, a detained student leader, that he had received money from exiled dissidents.
The intelligence ministry said Mohammadi, an outspoken dissident, had held talks in the United States with ``runaway spies and Zionist elements... to receive directives about setting up political and student organisations... and provoking and spreading violence.''
But Afshari and his colleagues said Iranians should look closer to home for the roots of the crisis.
``I am unable to confirm or deny (the government version), but we cannot say that all domestic problems have roots outsideIran. They lie inside the country,'' Afshari said.
``The main issue is the attack on the student dormitory. When it is not clear who ordered the attack and how the pressure groups arranged with the police to enter the dorms, how can we find the roots of the trouble?''
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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