Students, militia clash in 2nd day of Iran protest

TEHRAN, Iran — Pro-government militiamen assaulted university students demonstrating for a second straight day and hard-liners on motorcycles harassed the top opposition leader at his office Tuesday, signs of a possible intensified crackdown after the biggest anti-government demonstrations in months.

The new unrest came as Iran's top prosecutor warned of even tougher action against protesters following marches the day before by tens of thousands at universities around the country. Demonstrations on Monday turned into fierce clashes between youths and riot police and militiamen, and more than 200 protesters were arrested.

Authorities appear concerned that the protest movement launched after disputed presidential elections in June could pick up new steam.

In Monday's unrest, students showed an increased fervor and boldness, openly breaking the biggest taboo in Iran, burning pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and chanting slogans against him.

At Tehran University, several thousand students gathered for a new protest Tuesday at the Engineering College, and hard-line Basij militiamen attacked them, throwing stones and firing tear gas, witnesses said. At least one student was dragged away, the witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity fearing retribution. Foreign journalists, including The Associated Press, have been barred from covering protests.

Footage posted on the Internet, said to be from Tuesday, showed a large crowd of students in front of the college waving Iranian flags, then jostling to get away from the militiamen. Some cry out in warning, "Basiji, Basiji." Inside the college building, students lit papers into a bonfire in an attempt to ward off the tear gas.

Meanwhile, plainclothes men on motorcycles — likely Basijis — confronted the top opposition figure Mir Hossein Mousavi at his Tehran office.

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. Do whatever you've been ordered to do, kill me, beat me, threaten 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.

During Monday's demonstrations, hard-line students mobbed Mousavi's wife Zahra Rahnavard at Tehran University, spraying her with pepper spray before her supporters took her away, opposition Web sites reported.