According to reports out of Iran, people in the northwestern city of Tabriz became outraged after a video tape surfaced showing former mullahs’ president and Moussavi ally, Mohammad Khatami, using ethnic slurs to joke about the Azeri population at a private meeting.
The people of Tabriz, located in the province of Eastern Azerbaijan, are predominantly of the Azeri ethnic minority.
On Wednesday, Moussavi’s campaign staff planned to speak at Tabriz University, but faced tough questions from students. One Moussavi supporter, Majid Ansari, had appeared in the offensive video alongside Khatami, but refused to apologize for the insults. Some students carried placards reading “Khatami must apologize.”
Tensions ran high after Moussavi’s campaign staff decided to physically attack the protesting students. Nearly a dozen students were injured, some of whom were taken to the hospital, after being beaten by Moussavi’s cohorts.
A number of student bodies later released statements condemning Moussavi and his campaign’s violent attacks against dissident students. In their letters, they chided the so-called “reformist” faction of the regime, suggesting that its “club-wielding” tactics and use of pressure groups reinforces the view that they are similar in nature to the mullahs’ other suppressive factions.