Iran: June 11, 2003

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For the first time in months, students demonstrated against the tyranny of the minority religious conservatives that have veto power over the government and exert enormous control over the lives of Iranians. Not only did thousands demonstrate, but many of them were not students. Police and militia, controlled by the religious conservative minority, arrested 80 people. The conservative forces seemed intimidated by the size, diversity and enthusiasm of the crowd. The demonstrations appeared to be spontaneous. 

Eight members of an extreme Islamic radical group, Ansar Hizbollah, were arrested in the northeast for attacking pro-reform students. Ansar Hizbollah is considered