A THIRD night of student protests outside Tehran University©–s dormitories exploded into the surrounding middle-class neighbourhoods early yesterday, with large gangs of students fighting running street battles against vigilantes armed with sticks and chains. At one major junction demonstrators hurled bricks at trucks of riot policemen who were rushing to lift barricades and douse fires protesters had ignited in the streets.

.. the largest street demonstrations to erupt in this capital in four years. Joining the students were some older government workers and even women dressed in the sweeping black cloaks favoured in poorer neighbourhoods.

Given the difficulty of moving about the city, beset by traffic jams and violent clashes, it was impossible to get an accurate count. But with the demonstrations stretched at least three miles from the dormitories where the first quiet protests began on Tuesday, the demonstrators appeared to be in the thousands. It was a far wider protest than on two previous nights and one the government is likely to use force to prevent from erupting again.

Control of key junctions switched back and forth between protesters and the often black-clad vigilantes, paramilitary thugs believed to be linked to the government who swarmed the roads on motorbikes.

... "We want more freedom," said one government worker, 34, who gave his name as Mahmoud. "For 25 years we have lived without any freedom. We want social freedom, economic freedom and political freedom."

The current protests started quietly on Tuesday and erupted into clashes, with some injuries reported, on Wednesday, which the government said led to 80 arrests.