Telegraph

Iran riots 'worst since revolution' By Nick Pelham in Teheran (Filed: 26/10/2001)

CROWDS of young Iranians venting their anger at 22 years of religious rule clashed with riot police and Islamic vigilantes in Teheran yesterday.

Police fired tear gas rounds at the demonstrators and clubbed them with wooden staves.

The demonstrators replied with firecrackers, stones and home-made explosives. Yesterday was the third night of violence this week. Dozens of banks and shops across the country have been burnt.

The attacks on New York and Washington have given a new impetus to calls for an end to the hegemony of the ayatollahs. After decades of hostility, Washington and Iran now share a common enemy in the Taliban.

The protests started earlier in the week after Iran lost a World Cup qualifying match. The authorities dismissed the unrest as the work of football hooligans and have set up special courts to try about 800 people detained.

But many people in Teheran say it is the worst and most widespread unrest they have seen since the revolution in 1979. They say the unrest reminds them of the violence that led eventually to the downfall of the Shah.

In recent days, religious vigilantes have confiscated satellite dishes in an attempt to prevent people watching popular television channels broadcast from the United States.

Two Iranians who allegedly tried to leave Britain with cyanide in their baggage appeared in court yesterday charged with possessing an article for use in terrorism.

Armed police surrounded the building as Ahmed Favaregh, 53, and Ali Mostaschari, 45, who were arrested at Dover last week, were remanded in custody for a week by Folkestone magistrates.

The men have been charged under section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000 which has a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment. The magistrates refused a bail application by Favaregh.

-- Anonymous, October 25, 2001