http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=42P505KJWSQRGCRBAEKSFEY?type=worldNews&storyID=2927376
Gunfire as Vigilantes Attack Iran Protesters
Fri June 13, 2003 04:12 PM ET
TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - Automatic gunfire could be heard in the Iranian capital early Saturday as hundreds of Iranian pro-clergy militiamen, some armed with Kalashnikov rifles, attacked groups of people protesting against clerical rule.
"Most were armed with sticks and chains but a few had Kalashnikovs," Reuters correspondent Jon Hemming said from the scene.
"I heard automatic gunfire but I couldn't see where it was coming from or what it was aimed at."
The militiamen jumped out of trucks and off motorbikes to attack a few dozen youngsters protesting around a bonfire in a side street not far from the Tehran University dormitory which has been the focal point of protests for the last four nights.
The youths had been throwing stones and chanting slogans including "Death to Khamenei" a reference to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has blamed Iran's arch-foe the United States for stirring up unrest in the country.
Washington, which labels Iran an "axis of evil" member and accuses it of trying to build nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism, has welcomed the protests.