Tehran's Azadi Avenue near Tehran University is the site of bloody confrontations between Revolutionary Guards, State Security Forces and other repressive agents of the clerical regime on the one hand and student protesters whose ranks have been swelled with tens of thousands of Tehran citizens who have joined them. 100,000 antigovernment protesters have gathered outside Tehran University and from there to Azadi Square.
A State Security Forces helicopter has been hovering over the university area, coordinating the repressive forces' assault on protesters. SSF officers and other repressive agents have been throwing tear gas canisters at the huge crowd outside the university. Demonstrators have responded by setting on fire car tyres on the streets to neutralize the effect of tear gas.
The state radio and television announced that on the orders of Khatami's Interior Minister the security forces began to "enforce law and order" at 8 pm (local time).
The biggest clashes are taking place outside Pepsi Cola factory on Azadi Street in west Tehran and Khosh Intersection about five kilometers away from Tehran University.
The SSF forces are making large-scale arrests, taking the young protesters to prison on buses. At least 20 students have been shot and the SSF are not allowing ambulances to come and take them away from the university campus. Some of the wounded are in critical condition.
The Supreme National Security Council, chaired by Mohammad Khatami, issued a statement late last night making it clear that henceforth "all unauthorized assemblies will be illegal and offenders will be treated according to the rules."
In a message today broadcast into Iran by the Resistance's radio and television networks, Mr. Massoud Rajavi called on the students "to continue holding protests and demonstrations everywhere with courage and resolve" and insist on the release of all detained students.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
July 12, 1999
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