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GV & SCU INTERIOR Crowd listening to address by Ayatollah Eshraght, son-in-law of Ayatollah Khomeini (2 shots)
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GV Former Minister Sadeq Minister Sadeq Gotbzadeh being to hall
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SV, GV & CU Gotbzadeh speaking
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TRANSCRIPT: SEQ. 3: GOTBZADEH: "In spite of all the difficulties, which are created by those elements who do not want freedom and democracy to prevail in Iran, the accusations against the friends here, as you see, a tremendous amount of people have gathered only to cherish the liberty. And we are pledged to continue our fight, but at the moment, according to the wish of Imam Khomeini, I had decided not to speak or to act because of the war. But afterwards, certainly, the fight for the establishment of the true democracy will continue, and I hope we will all succeed."





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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Former Iranian Foreign Minister, Sadeq Gotbzadeh, has announced he will resume his campaign for democracy in Iran as soon as his country's war with Iraq is over. Mr. Gotbzadeh, released on Monday (10 November) after sending three days in prison, was due to speak at a public meeting in the Teheran Bazaar on Friday (14 November), but he cancelled the speech, under pressure from the Iranian Government.

SYNOPSIS: Friday's public meeting attracted a crowd of twenty-thousand, most of them staunch supporters of Mr. Gotbzadeh, One of the speakers was the Ayatollah Khomeini's son-in-law, Ayatollah Eshraght, but despite his presence, the crowd made no secret of their anti-clergy feelings.

The crowd's reaction highlighted a feud between Gotbzadeh supporters and the clergy-led Islamic Republican Party (IRP). The former Foreign Minister was jailed for criticising the dominance of pro-I.R.P. The former Foreign Minister was jailed for criticising the dominance of pro-I.R.P. fundamentalists over the state broadcasting service. A petition was circulated around Teheran demanding Mr. Gotbzadeh's release, and the massive crowd had turned out to hear massive crowd had turned out to hear his first address since the prison sentence. After cancelling the speech, He spoke with reporters.