Iran MPs slam Bush 'interference'
By CNN Correspondent Kasra Naji
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Iranian student protesters gather at Amir Kabir university in Tehran.
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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Members of parliament in Iran, including many reformists, have condemned a statement made by U.S. President George Bush last week in support of the anti-government demonstrations.
"The recent position of the White House and ... the statement [by] the U.S. president is a clear interference in the internal affairs of Iran," said a statement signed by 217 parliamentarians -- a vast majority in the 273 member reformist-dominated parliament.
Bush on Sunday openly supported Tehran university students who have been protesting against Islamic clerical rule.
"This is the beginning of people expressing themselves towards a free Iran which I think is positive," Bush said.
Members of parliament said in their statement that Iranians knew well the reasons for the animosity of the United States towards Iran.
"The U.S. strategy is to enslave Iran once more, and impose a repressive regime in Iran as in the past," the MPs said.
Hard-line newspapers here hailed the statement as an indication that Iranians are united in their opposition to the United States.
Washington's open support for the demonstrators has placed reformists in a difficult position. Many Iranian officials believe the United States has launched "a psychological war," against Tehran with the ultimate aim of "regime change."
Many of the reformist MPs, who in the past have been calling for the re-establishment of ties with the United States, have distanced themselves from the recent street demonstrations in Tehran in which students and their supporters called for an end to the clerical rule in Iran.
Demonstrators have also echoed the frustration people in Iran feel about the slow pace of political reforms in the country as they have called for reformist President Mohammad Khatami to step down.
There were more anti-government demonstrations in Tehran, as well as in a number of other towns and cities. Many of the demonstrators have been arrested, while others have been injured in clashes with the police and in some cases knife-wielding Islamic vigilante groups.
