Tehran - A satirical play in a campus journal, The Wave, has sent shock waves through Iran, threatening President Mohammad Khatami's reform drive and exposing deep rifts in the ranks of ruling clerics. The sketch, which invoked one of the holiest figures in Shia Islam to lampoon campus conservatives, has been condemned as an insult to Islamic sanctities.
Its authors were arrested last week. President Khatami is reported to have condemned the play in remarks to his cabinet but said the injury was compounded by a campaign to turn the crisis to political advantage, a swipe at his conservative rivals.