The number of Iranian students protesting against a death sentence passed on a dissident professor swelled to more than 1,000 on Monday, the third day of demonstrations which some warn could spiral out of control. Pledging further sit-ins and strikes, the students demanded the release of political prisoners in the biggest pro-reform protests in the Islamic Republic in three years. ‘‘Death to despotism,’’ they chanted.The demonstrations come as President Mohammad Khatami is engaged in a make-or-break struggle to assert his authority over hardline rivals who have frustrated his reform efforts.The reformist-dominated parliament passed a pair of draft bills in the last two weeks clarifying his constitutional powers. But conservative watchdogs are likely to veto the legislation which could lead to the mild-mannered President stepping down. As Khatami’s allies began their legal challenge to entrenched conservative power, a hardline court sentenced academic Hashem Aghajari to death last week for blasphemy after he questioned the right of the clergy to rule the Islamic Republic. Reformers are enraged, seeing the sentence as a direct attack on the right of free speech.‘‘I believe the hardliners are mistaken in thinking that the society will express its opposition calmly and peacefully through the print media,’’ reformist Ahmad Shirzad was quoted as saying on Monday. ‘‘In my view, Iran is on the verge of renewed tensions on a massive scale.’’So far, the student sit-ins and protests have been peaceful. On Monday, students gathered at Tehran’s Tarbiat-E Modarres University where they listened to a recording of one of Aghajari’s lectures over loudspeakers outside the library which had its windows plastered with pictures of the jailed dissident.More protests were planned for Tuesday at Tehran University, the scene of violent 1999 clashes between hardline vigilantes and reformist students which led to mass arrests and spurred on a conservative crackdown on all forms of dissent. But observers hoped both sides had learned lessons from the past and would not let the demonstrations descend into violence. ‘‘It is my utmost wish that the hardliners have learned from their mistakes and do not once again resort to violence and repression,’’ Shirzad said in an interview. (Reuters)
