What was the source of the June 2003 disturbances around the universities in Tehran and other cities?
The June clashes around the universities should be seen as linked to similar events that occurred in the late fall of 2002, when the death sentence against Prof. Hashem Aghajari [on charges of blasphemy] led to an unprecedented explosion of spontaneous student protests across the country that lasted for more than two weeks in December. Aghajaris sentence was reduced, but he was kept in jail. By the time the February 2003 elections for local councils took place, a noticeable shift in attitude had taken place. For the first time in the past six years, the student organizations refused to nominate candidates or to actively campaign in the elections. The main reason for this apathy was that rank-and-file university students no longer believed that reforms or elections could bring about the political changes they desire. Mohammad Khatami, the elected president, is not effective, and the parliament has not been able to implement its reformist agenda. So by the time the universities were engu
