TEHRAN (Reuters) - Thousands of Iranian students ignored official warnings and demonstrated for the fourth day running on Tuesday against a dissident's death sentence and to demand freedom of speech and political reform.
Some 5,000 students gathered at Tehran University, once the hotbed of revolutionary fervour that overthrew the shah two decades ago, in support of academic Hashem Aghajari, sentenced to hang for questioning clerical rule in the Islamic Republic.
"The execution of Aghajari is the execution of the university," demonstrators chanted. "Political prisoners should be freed."
The momentum of protests appeared to be growing, with bigger crowds in Tehran each day and demonstrations spreading to the provincial cities of Tabriz, Isfahan, Urumiyeh and Hamedan.
The protests come amid rising political tension in the country of 65 million people as moderate President Mohammad Khatami tries to assert his authority over conservative rivals who control the judiciary, armed forces and broadcast media.
Following their rally in Tehran, students marched through the vast university campus, holding hands and singing "Ey Iran" -- the national anthem before the 1979 Islamic revolution.
When they reached the locked university gates, some tried to force them open and shouted at police and passers-by on the other side. "Nation, shame on you for your silence. We don't want spectators, join us."
Despite the unusually bold slogans, which included insults against top political figures such as powerful former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, watching police did not intervene.
KHAMENEI WARNING
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure and commander of the armed forces, issued a veiled warning late on Monday to parliament, the government and judiciary to settle their differences.
"The day the three branches are unable or unwilling to settle major problems, the (supreme) leadership will, if it thinks it necessary, use the popular forces to intervene," he told high-ranking officials in comments broadcast on television.
"I hope that will never happen," he said.
Khatami, re-elected by a landslide last year, is set on a course of confrontation with conservatives entrenched within the state who have blocked his attempts to promote democracy.
Two draft bills passed by Khatami's allies in parliament to challenge hardline authority in the judiciary and a constitutional watchdog body look set to be vetoed by unelected conservative opponents.
Reformists say Aghajari's death sentence is connected to the progress of the bills and is an attempt to intimidate them.
"We hope the government and parliament defend the people's vote, otherwise the only option is the resignation of the parliament and president," Meysan Yousefzadeh, a member of Tehran University student council, told the protesters.
"Khatami, Khatami, resign, resign," the crowds responded.
AIDES SAY KHATAMI MAY GO
Close aides say the mild-mannered president, who has stepped back from the brink of confrontation several times since he came to office in 1997, is serious this time and will step down if his reforms are thwarted.
The protests have remained almost entirely peaceful, with students and security forces apparently seeking to avoid a repeat of 1999 university unrest in which one person was killed and dozens were arrested and sentenced to long jail terms.
But Saeed Babaee, secretary of Tehran University student council, said six people were arrested and one was beaten after Monday's protests at another Tehran campus.
"We can't tolerate these things any more," he said. "We plan to have these rallies every day until all charges against Aghajari are dropped and the judiciary apologize...
"If they think they can silence the students, they are making a big mistake.
