"A quiet battle is being waged on the streets of Tehran between opposition activists and authorities in preparation for the anniversary this Thursday of the student protests of 1999, which is commemorated yearly and which was, before last year's disputed presidential election, the largest outpouring of antigovernment sentiment since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Messages scribbled on walls, inside telephone booths and even along the mountain paths and picnic areas favored by Tehran's middle class urge people to rally outside Tehran University in defiance of stern government warnings.

"Ahead of a planned opposition rally on Monday, Iran tightened security and arrested over 20 mothers who were mourning children killed in the unrest that has broken out since the disputed June 12 elections.

"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's radical president whose fiery rhetoric has made him a bête noire of the west? "There is no doubt he is our friend," said Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister for the last six years.