Tehran - Islamist students in Tehran on Tuesday staged a
protest in front of the Swiss embassy, shouting slogans in solidarity
with Palestine and burning pictures of US president-elect Barack
Obama and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak.
According to the ISNA news agency, the students hoisted the
Palestinian flag in front of the Swiss embassy which acts as a
intermediary of the United States with Iran, as Washington and Tehran
have had no diplomatic ties for three decades.
'While innocent people are killed by Israeli bombs in the Gaza
Strip, Obama is looking for a puppy for his daughter,' one of the
students said.
Protest demonstrations by Islamist students in Iran usually end
with the burning of Israel and US flags as well as of effigies of
Bush. The picture of Obama and Mubarak were burnt for the first time.
The students said they would continue their protest in front of
the Egyptian interest section.
The Iranian government has also adopted a harsh stance against
Israel for the attacks on the Gaza Stripand has criticized Arab
governments for insufficient support for Palestinian Islamic group
Hamas that rules the strip.
The Tehran government however has so far distanced itself from the
most radical suggestions by the students and has for example not
allowed some 70,000 Iranian volunteers to travel to Gaza to fight
Israel.
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