Militants, security officers clash with Iranians in streets of

TEHRAN, Iran -- Hundreds of pro-cleric militants and state security forces fired bullets and tear gas and beat bystanders in Tehran late Friday, the fourth and most widespread night of clashes in the Iranian capital.

Violence erupted in scores of locations throughout the capital, particularly in areas surrounding Tehran University's dormitory complex, the scene of demonstrations against the country's Islamic clerical regime that triggered the crackdown.

Witnesses said security officers fired tear gas to disperse crowds of hundreds of people, mainly curious onlookers in cars and doorways who had gathered to watch the heavy police presence around the city.

It was unclear what sparked the clashes, which involved hundreds of hard-line militants -- some in groups of two to four, others on motorcycles -- firing machine-guns in the air, beating pedestrians with batons, hurling rocks or punching people.

No organized protests were seen late Friday, unlike previous nights when hundreds of people opposed to Iran's ruling clerics gathered to chant slogans denouncing the government and calling for the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Stiff penalties

Criticism of Khamenei is usually punished by imprisonment, and public calls for his death had been unheard of until this week.

The militants were backed by hundreds of security forces, who are cracking down on protests and public disturbances.

Hundreds more regular police -- on patrol for days in the city in an effort to bring calm -- did not intervene in Friday night's clashes, witnesses said.

Police on Friday had locked down the capital, lining all streets leading to the Tehran University dorm. Hundreds of young Iranians, many in their teens, had taken to the streets late Thursday and early Friday around the university and the nearby Laleh hotel, formerly the Intercontinental, to denounce Khamenei and his regime.

The city had been calm Friday afternoon, with uniformed and plain-clothed police officers commanding the streets, preventing groups from gathering and searching cars.

Khamenei's hard-line supporters -- who control key government institutions in Iran -- are locked in a power struggle with the popularly elected reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Public support for Khatami also appears to be falling because of his government's inability to implement a raft of promised reforms.

During a Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani -- a key Khamenei supporter -- urged Iran's youth not to fall into what he described as a U.S. trap, by denouncing the country's political leadership.

"I advise the youth, especially students ... that they should be careful not to fall into a trap dug ... by the Americans," Rafsanjani told worshippers.

Rafsanjani said it was Iran's policy to "act resolutely" to prevent demonstrations from getting out of hand but "not to be harsh on protesters."

While the recent protests seemed to be disorganized, with no clear leaders, some demonstrators vowed to keep up the pressure until next month's anniversary of much larger and more violent protests in 1999.

"The protests are not expected to continue. Since the ruling establishment is not flexible, any protests create worries for the regime," said leading reformist and university professor Fayaz Zahed said.

"But these latest protests cannot create serious threats for the government because they are not organized."

Khamenei this week warned of a major crackdown in a speech broadcast on state television and radio.

He referred to the violence in July 1999, when security forces and extremist supporters of hard-line clerics attacked pro-democracy demonstrators after a student dormitory was stormed.

The raid led to the death of at least one student and generated the worst street battles since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"If the Iranian nation decides to deal with the (current) rioters, it will do so in the way it dealt with it on July 14, 1999," Khamenei said.

"It should not be allowed that a group of people contaminate society and universities with riots and insecurity, and then attribute it to the pious youth," he said.

Exiled opposition groups have been encouraging dissent in Iran through U.S.-based Persian language TV channels. U.S. pressure on Iran, which Washington accuses of hiding a nuclear weapons program and harboring terrorists, may have further emboldened those who hope to see the regime toppled.