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Students Clash With Conservatives In Iran - 2002-11-18


.Islamic conservatives clashed Monday with pro-reform students demanding greater freedom of speech and the release of a Islamic conservatives clashed Monday with pro-reform students demanding greater freedom of speech and the release of a dissident professor charged with blasphemy.

More than three thousand students gathered at the Sharif Technical University to protest the death sentence of reformist professor Hashem Aghajari. Mr. Aghajari -- a veteran wounded in the Iran-Iraq war -- was recently sentenced to hang for questioning clerical rule in Iran.

Clashes broke out between the students and the hardliners during Monday's rally and witnesses said there were some injuries.

On Sunday, protesting students claimed victory after the country's supreme leader -- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- ordered a review of Mr. Aghajari's death sentence.

Nearly two-thirds of Iran's reformist-dominated parliament has called for Mr. Aghajari's sentence to be lifted.

The reformists -- allied to President Mohammad Khatami -- enjoy popular support but have run into resistance from conservatives who control the judiciary and other key state functions. Last week, President Khatami said the sentence against Mr. Aghajari was inappropriate and should never have been issued.

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