Iran students warn of political tensions

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Iranian students have warned of potential tension if campus security personnel at a Tehran polytechnic continue harassing women students, the Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) said on Wednesday.

A petition was sent to the minister of higher education by students at the Amir Kabir University of Technology condemning searches of women students' bags at campus entrances.

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"Who has allowed campus security personnel to hold such kangaroo courts at the university gates?" ISNA quoted the statement as saying.

"The campus may look calm today but the situation is potentially full of dangerous situations which cannot be stopped if they occur."

Students at the university's reformist Islamic Association confirmed such searches had taken place on campus but did not specify if or what kind of action they might take.

Amir Kabir University has been a hotbed of pro-reform activism in the past, with student leaders imprisoned for writing plays deemed as insulting to "Islamic values" and put on trial for participating in conferences outside Iran.

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