government student protests continued Sunday as debate raged over television images showing the burning of a photo of the revered Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for calm amid the anger over the images, even as he indirectly accused the opposition of creating an environment to allow such an incident to happen. State television has repeatedly shown images, ostensibly taken during opposition protests on Dec. 7, of unidentified hands burning the picture of Khomeini, who remains widely respected in the country. “Some have converted the election campaign into a campaign against the entire system,” Khamenei said without naming any opposition leaders. “We call on those who are angry to remain calm.” Reformists, including former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi, maintain that their supporters had nothing to do with the burning of the picture, which they say is being used by the regime to discredit the opposition. Dozens of police surrounded the campus of Tehran University as inside hundreds of pro-reform students protested against the accusations. The students contend the images were fabricated by government agents and are being used to justify further crackdowns on the opposition. The elite Revolutionary Guard, the country's most powerful military force, called Sunday for the trial and punishment of those behind the move.
