Other students blocked the dozens of protestors as they tried to approach the president, chanting “Ahmadi, Ahmadi, we support you,” according to the Fars news agency.
Fistfights broke out between the two groups, said a spokesman for the president, who added that some 50 to 60 students had set fire to photos of Ahmadinejad and hurled firecrackers during his speech.
In an attempt to put a positive spin on the incident, the spokesman added “They tried to interrupt, but they couldn’t.” Ahmadinejad referred to the protestors’ actions during his remarks, saying, “Everyone should know that Ahmadinejad is prepared to be burned in the path of true freedom, independence and justice.”
It was the first case of open protests against the president since Ahmadinejad’s election in June 2005, when he was elected in a landslide victory on the platform of more equitable allocation of revenues from oil exports.
Gradually increasing restrictions on media freedom as well as on student action organizations have raised red flags among Iranians who support reforms. Ahmadinejad rebuked the student protestors, saying, “The minority group which says there is no freedom of speech is not allowing the majority to hear my remarks.”
The protests coincided with a two-day Holocaust denial conference organized by Ahmadinejad. The Iranian president was widely reviled in the West last year for saying the Holocaust was "a myth" and that Israel should be "wiped off the map". Later he said that if Europe felt guilty about the Jews, it should create a homeland for them on European soil.
Fistfights broke out between the two groups, said a spokesman for the president, who added that some 50 to 60 students had set fire to photos of Ahmadinejad and hurled firecrackers during his speech.
In an attempt to put a positive spin on the incident, the spokesman added “They tried to interrupt, but they couldn’t.” Ahmadinejad referred to the protestors’ actions during his remarks, saying, “Everyone should know that Ahmadinejad is prepared to be burned in the path of true freedom, independence and justice.”
It was the first case of open protests against the president since Ahmadinejad’s election in June 2005, when he was elected in a landslide victory on the platform of more equitable allocation of revenues from oil exports.
Gradually increasing restrictions on media freedom as well as on student action organizations have raised red flags among Iranians who support reforms. Ahmadinejad rebuked the student protestors, saying, “The minority group which says there is no freedom of speech is not allowing the majority to hear my remarks.”
The protests coincided with a two-day Holocaust denial conference organized by Ahmadinejad. The Iranian president was widely reviled in the West last year for saying the Holocaust was "a myth" and that Israel should be "wiped off the map". Later he said that if Europe felt guilty about the Jews, it should create a homeland for them on European soil.