Compiled from reports by staff writers Marcella
Bombardieri, David Fallis, Maria Glod and Steve
Twomey and the Associated Press.
Monday, July 12, 1999; Page B03
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered yesterday afternoon in Lafayette Square in a show of solidarity for the thousands who have been protesting in Iran since Friday, when police there cracked down on activist students. U.S. Park Police reported no arrests.
Activists marched, gave speeches and chanted for nearly two hours, waving signs that condemned the raid on students at Tehran University. At least 20 people have been injured in the attack, and one person was killed.
Thousands of people across Iran have been arrested in resulting protests against political and religious leaders in the largest public display of unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution, according to news reports.
Protesters who gathered across from the White House called the police raid on students "Bloody Friday" and asked for an international investigation. "Policymakers in the West, they don't understand the realities in Iran," said Soona Samsami, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.