Iran prosecutor vows no more “leniency” for protesters after nationwide university marches

Iran threatens tougher action against protesters

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran threatened tougher action against protesters Tuesday after tens of thousands marched at universities across the country in the biggest anti-government rallies in months, a sign authorities are concerned the protest movement could pick up steam.

The protests Monday turned into fierce clashes between youths throwing stones and riot police and militiamen wielding batons and tear gas. They also saw an increased fervor among demonstrators, who more openly broke the biggest taboo in Iran — burning pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and chanting slogans against him.

The turnout, fueled by students marching by the thousands on campuses, showed that months of arrests and government intimidation had failed to stamp out the movement, sparked by the disputed presidential election in June.

The fierce crackdown since the election has succeeded in limiting demonstrations, which have been held only about once a month at most. But authorities may be concerned because the coming months could heat up, with several key occasions that could give the opposition a pretext for bringing supporters into the street. The Islamic holy month of Moharram begins in mid-December, a time of frequent mourning ceremonies, and the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution will be marked over 10 days in early February.

On Tuesday, riot police were out in heavy numbers at intersections on major thoroughfares around the city.

At Tehran University, a group of hard-line Basij militiamen attacked a small demonstration of students Tuesday. The militiamen pelted them with stones and fired tear gas to disperse them and dragged at least one student away, said witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing retribution.

Plainclothes men on motorcycles — likely Basijis — also harrassed the opposition’s leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, at his Tehran office on Tuesday. Up to 30 men on motorcycles, some in masks, blocked Mousavi as he tried to drive out of his office garage and chanted slogans against him, two opposition Web sites said, citing witnesses.

Mousavi got out of his car and shouted at them, “You’re agents, you’ve been tasked with threatening me, beating me, killing me,” before his aides hustled him back inside, the Gooya News Web site reported. The men left several hours later and Mousavi was able to leave.

Hard-line clerics and commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guard have called for the arrest of Mousavi, accusing him of sparking protests and conspiring against Iran’s clerical leadership. Arresting Mousavi or other top opposition leaders would be a major escalation, likely to spark greater turmoil — and so far the government has balked at taking the step.

A wave of arrests since July succeeded in crushing the massive protests by hundreds of thousands that erupted after the election, which the opposition says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by fraud.

More than 100 politicians, activists and protesters have been put on a mass trial before the Revolutionary Court, accused of being part of a foreign-backed plot to overthrow the Islamic Republic. Five have been sentenced to death and 80 others to prison terms up to 15 years. In recent weeks, more than 100 student leaders were arrested ahead of Monday’s demonstration, and several have been given heavy prison sentences.

Iran’s top prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, warned on Tuesday that the judiciary will be even harsher.

“So far, we have shown restraint. From today no leniency will be applied,” Ejehi said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

He said Tehran prosecutors should take stronger action against those “who violate public order and damage public properties.”

Authorities have said there were arrests during Monday’s protests, but have not said how many. Unconfirmed reports on opposition Web sites have ranged from dozens to more than 200, citing witnesses.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast denounced the United States for its criticism of Monday’s crackdown on students. “We do not accept threatening language. We think they are on wrong path,” he said, of the Americans.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian C. Kelly on Monday condemned the “continued harassment, arbitrary detention, and conviction of individuals for their participation in peaceful demonstrations.”

Monday’s protests erupted at more than a dozen university campuses around Iran as well as in major squares of the capital.