Hundreds of Iranians demanding more freedom demonstrated for the eighth night running early on Wednesday in now largely peaceful protests the United States said it wants to encourage.

Wary of beatings from hardline Islamic vigilantes that marked some previous nights, demonstrators kept to their cars and sounded their horns in traffic jams around Tehran University, the focus of the unrest.

Washington has lauded the protests as a cry for freedom from a people whose government U.S. officials accuse of being part of an "axis of evil" for allegedly developing nuclear weapons, backing terrorism and trying to destabilize post-war Iraq. "Our policy is to encourage people to demonstrate for their views," Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters during a visit to Cambodia.

Tehran's government and 217 of its 290 parliamentary deputies have condemned the United States and charged U.S. leaders with blatant interference in Iran's internal affairs. Hardline clerics say they have detected a U.S.-inspired plot to destabilize Iran.

But demonstrators said they were not on the streets for the sake of Washington, they were there for themselves.

"If coming to the streets will give me more freedom, I don't care who calls for it, I will come here and tell all my friends to come with me," said teenage high school student Amir.


Murdoch-owned neofascist daily the Times of London doesn't seem to accept open truth above, but is arguing against regime change by force:

"The words “regime change” are being uttered again. Washington hawks concerned about Iran’s nuclear capacity are urging the overthrow of its Islamist Government. These hawks confuse Iran with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Iraq was a mere torture chamber for a brutal dictator. Unlike in Iraq, there is no need for a military confrontation in Iran, a country with a well-developed opposition, which allows a lively debate between hardliners and moderates, and has a strong chance of democratisation without US intervention.

[...]

The claim last week by Khamenei that the demonstrations were organised by American mercenaries was part of an initial panic reaction by a frightened regime. Since then wiser counsel seems to have prevailed. Now, even Khamenei’s associates admit that the pro-democracy movement is too broad-based to be dismissed as part of the pressure that the Bush Administration is exerting on the regime.

The American presence in countries neighbouring Iran, especially Iraq and Afghanistan, has put the fear of God in the Khomeinist Establishment. This does not mean, however, that there is any support for an aggressive posture by the US among the demonstrators. The threat of American military action could backfire by triggering an Iranian nationalistic reflex, giving succour to the hardliners."