News

Iran on Tuesday witnessed dueling student protests at universities in the ongoing fallout over footage showing the burning of a picture of the Islamic republic's founder.

State television has repeatedly shown images, ostensibly taken during opposition protests on Dec. 7, of unidentified hands burning the picture of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a shocking action for most Iranians.

Hundreds of students demonstrated at Tehran's Science and Technology University contending the images were fabricated by government agents to discredit the opposition, the reformist Web Site Mowjcamp reported.

Students in the protest carried pictures of both Khomeini, who remains widely revered, and opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Similar protests also took place at Qom university, 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Tehran.