] Some 2,500 university students rallied in Tehran again on
] Wednesday in what has become the largest show of
] political protest in the Islamic Republic for more than
] three years.
]
] The demonstrations come at a critical time for Iran with
] pro-reform President Mohammad Khatami engaged in a
] last-ditch legal effort to break the grip on power of
] hard-liners entrenched in the judiciary and unelected
] state bodies.
]
] The protests, which have mushroomed in size and intensity
] since Saturday, began in reaction to a hard-line court's
] verdict last week that reformist history teacher Hashem
] Aghajari be hanged for blasphemy after he questioned
] clerical rule in Iran.
]
] "If, using the excuse of Islamic laws, you are going to
] hang someone for his opinions, then we don't want that
] kind of Islam," said Mohammad Namnabat, one of the rally
] organizers. "Our protests will not finish with Aghajari's
] freedom."