Iran Professors Ask for End to Violence

Risking expulsion and arrest, 88 professors at Tehran University signed a letter asking the country's supreme religious leader to stop using violence against protestors, as it shows the government's weakness. In addition, five opposition leaders from abroad wrote a letter calling for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's resignation, release of political prisoners, freedom of speech, and fair elections. This letter stated that, "The hatred and resentment that had built up against the regime in the past three decades has deep roots. The discontent has a great destructive power and can unleash a vast wave of violence throughout society." Though neither letter impacted the government's actions, it was still an important event because the letters challenged the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei's, actions, which was unthinkable before protests broke out in June after the election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html

By: Sam Lent