However, several sporadic demonstrations were reported in other cities where small numbers of students staged short rallies to protest the Saturday early morning raid of a university dorm in Tehran by plainclothes vigilantes, the so-called "Ansar-E Hezbollah".

IRNA offices in Mashhad, Karaj, Kerman, Isfahan, Tabriz, Kermanshah, and Hamedan have reported small rallies in protest against the attacks by Ansar-E Hezbollah against students in Tehran.

Some of the rallies later turned into an opportunity for thugs to misuse student protests and try to create disorder by chanting slogans against the government.

The police later in the night dispersed the thugs and restored order in the cities.

A brief meeting by students at Tehran University's dorm to protest alleged privatization of universities turned into an angry rally last Tuesday that was followed by several days of late evening demonstrations.

The police have been heavily stationed at the dorm over the past week. No clash between the police and students has been reported yet.

The police have tried to keep the Ansar-E Hezbollah away from the students to stop a confrontation and prevent the recurrence of the group's violent raid into the dorm in 1999 that left one killed and several others badly wounded thus sparking three days of unrest in Tehran.

However, the Ansar-E Hezbollah, lead by Saeed Asgar, who carried out a failed assassination attempt on Saeed Hajjarian, a member of the former Tehran City Council in 2000, stormed into the dorm of Tehran's Alameh Tabatabaei University early Saturday morning, beat up some 80 students and destroyed their properties.

The police later Sunday announced that it had arrested Asgar and several of his fringe members, and vowed to prevent any effort to create insecurity in Iran.

Meanwhile, Deputy Interior Minister for Political and Security Affairs Ali Asghar Ahmadi said on Monday that 250 people were arrested in the recent unrest in Tehran stressing that 35 percent of those arrested were "counter revolutionaries and hooligans".

Ahmadi further added that "all those arrested, except for that 35 percent, have been freed."

Shahroudi says demands of students must be met appropriately

Shahroudi was referring to recent angry rallies by students of Tehran University which lasted for several days in protest against privatization of universities.

He told a session of high-ranking Judiciary officials that it was common for students throughout the world to put forward certain demands, but said the recent rallies had been abused by certain individuals who were not students.

The Judiciary chief described as critical the prevailing conditions of Iran and the Middle East, and urged the police to prevent any incident which might be used as a pretext against Iran by the enemies.

"The officials of the country will stand steadfast against any issue that might jeopardize the interests of the Islamic Republic," Shahroudi said.

"The more the US steps up its pressures against Iran, the stronger will be the solidarity and unity of the Iranian nation."

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Judiciary chief said the remarks by US leaders in support of unrest in other countries was a sign of 'blatant interference' in their internal affairs.