TEHRAN - … Many of the leading reformists themselves are former hard-liners who denied freedom to their opponents and quashed opposition when they were in power.

Abbas Abdi was a leader of the students who stormed the U.S. Embassy in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. He later became a top official in the office of the prosecutor general. Now, he advocates freedom and ties with the United States.

Sadeq Khalkhali, now staunchly behind Khatami, was known as ''the hanging judge'' for ordering hundreds if not thousands of summary executions immediately after the revolution. One of Khatami's closest aides, Saeed Hajjarian, was the founder of Iran's notorious Intelligence Ministry.

They began to speak out for freedom of expression and greater political plurality after being removed from positions of influence and silenced for opposing the eight-year presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani, who stepped down in 1997.
 

Mullahs' Leader Asks Voters To Prove U.S. Wrong, Reuters, February 15

TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, urged voters Tuesday to disappoint the United States by voting for pious revolutionaries in Friday's parliamentary polls and shunning pro-Western candidates.

"The good choice by our people will once again disappoint America, arrogant (Western) powers and Zionist centres," Khamenei said, calling on voters to reject candidates "scared or fascinated" by the West.
 

Khatami's Aide Says Expect No Change to Mullahs' Constitution, The Financial Times, February 14

TEHRAN - … Mohammad Ali Abtahi, head of the presidential office, in an interview with the Financial Times, warned against expecting radical change, insisting that reforms would not extend to changes in the constitution, which gives the highest authority to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader…

However, Mr. Abtahi said the reforms would be pursued within the country's constitution a position that will disappoint Iranians looking for immediate and drastic change.

Analysts say that without amendments to the constitution and a curb on the powers of the supreme leader and on the conservative institutions which keep a close watch on the government and the parliament, Iran's reforms will be slow and limited.
 

Parliament Vote: Do or Die For Khatami, Agence France Presse, February 15

This week's parliamentary elections could determine the fate of Khatami's presidency.

With some of his supporters frustrated at the glacial pace of change, he badly needs a majority in the legislature to turn his agenda into action.

No matter what happens in the elections, conservatives still control the police and the courts, both of which have sidelined many of Khatami's closest and most effective allies.

With last year's surprise recovery in the worldwide price of oil, Khatami seems to have avoided the worst of the worst.

But unemployment and inflation remain high and Khatami's plan to privatize huge swathes of the largely state-run economy will take both his presidency and the nation into uncharted waters.

A serious defeat for his supporters will be a tough political blow -- and any claim that his best intentions had been blocked by the conservative parliament, however accurate, will count for little.
 

Revolution And Reform, The Financial Times, February 15

… Iran's Islamic revolution celebrated its 21st anniversary last week with its customary rhetoric and ritual. But at the same time there was more than a hint that the revolution may be running out of steam. The crowd attending the nation's showpiece event was thinner than in past years and dispersed quickly. The slogan chanting and raised fists lacked the usual zeal.

Crucial to Mr. Khatami's success… has been his developing relationship with… Ali Khamenei… Associates of the president say there is a tacit agreement with Mr. Khamenei that political and economic reforms may proceed gradually and that extremists on both sides must be curbed…

Last July, Iran's two leaders had to act together after some of the worst violence seen since the early days of the revolution. University students protesting on their campus… were attacked in their dormitories by a mix of security forces and Ansar-e-Hezbollah Islamist militants. This week's elections appear to be the product of a similar pact to allow reform within limits...

Should the elections, comprising two rounds of voting, produce a close outcome then Mr Rafsanjani, known as the ultimate pragmatist and fixer, could play a crucial role in deal-making between the two camps. But this is a campaign with a difference. Mr Rafsanjani, a pillar of the revolution and president for eight years, is suffering the indignity of being publicly savaged by reformist newspapers.

The economic achievements of his rule have been questioned, his family's powerful business interests scrutinized, and he himself is under fire for not preventing a spate of unexplained political killings in the 1990s. The "rogue agents" who allegedly murdered the four intellectuals in 1998 developed their clique in the intelligence ministry under Mr Rafsanjani, though the former president denies responsibility.
 

Economy May Face Deadlock After Polls, Reuters, February 14

TEHRAN - A victory for Iran's "reformers" in Friday's parliamentary polls would do little for economy.

Khatami's coalition cabinet, a legacy of his 1997 electoral victory, is already deadlocked between advocates of market reform and statists.

"I don't believe the pro-reform coalition has a cohesive economic plan," Jamshid Pajuyan, an economist, told Reuters.
 

Iran's Youth Movement Has The Old Guard Concerned, The Newsday, February 14

TEHRAN - … "Young people are so strong now," said Zahra, 19... "If the religious police stop us and ask us who we are, we just tell them it's none of your business..." Yet they are too young to have leaders of their own and so they are left cautiously supporting… clerics like Khatami, themselves once key players in the revolution. Khatami has deliberately courted the youth vote...

They may be charmed, but Iran's young people have the patience of typical teenagers. They want their freedoms yesterday. So with or without the reformists' help, they're taking them.

Many young people will… soon want to see a loosening of the Islamic rules they currently live under. The signs are mixed as to whether even a reformist government will grant the wishes of young Iranians.

Zahra recently had a moment to ask Khatami a question at a press event.

"So, Mr. Khatami," she said, "what are you going to do to make things better for young people in Iran?" "I'll tell you later," Khatami told Zahra. But the young journalist wasn't fobbed off that easily.

"When?" she asked.

Khatami couldn't give her a clear answer.
 

Guards Corps faction in the next Majlis!

Mosharekat daily, Feb. 12: Former Guards Corps Commander in Chief, Mohsen Reza’i said: "In the sixth Majlis, we will form a strong faction consisting of 50 revolutionary guardsmen. By controlling special commissions and maintain our presence in the leadership of the Majlis, the Majlis will intervene more effectively in the everyday affairs of the Executive Branch."
 

Election rivalry turns violent

Sobh-e Emrouz daily, Feb. 14: The election headquarters of the Office to Strengthen Unity (OSU) in the city of Tabriz was attacked by unknown assailants. The elections posters by the OSU HQ throughout the city have been torn away.

Azad daily, Feb. 14: The election HQ of one of the rival factions in the city of Bojnourd (northeast Iran) was attacked by unknown assailants. The election HQ for Sheikhzad condemned the attack in a statement and added: "In reality, all groups have the right to political activity. The law determines this presence. No monopolist faction has the right to maintain its exclusive control over society."

Fat’h daily, Feb. 12: Assailants attacked the election HQ of Mohammad Ebrahim Zamani in the southern city of Shiraz at 1:50 a.m., Thursday and destroyed all election banners and caused a lot of damage.

Sobh-e Emrouz daily, Feb. 14: Election banners of the Islamic Society of Students affiliated with the Participation Front, who support the candidacy of Fereidoon Amouzadeh Khalili, were set ablaze in the city of Semnan.
 

Clashes in Sanandaj

Radio France, Feb. 13: Thousands of people in the city of Sanandaj, capital of the western province of Iranian Kurdistan, clashed with the State Security Forces on February 11. Chanting slogans against the Iranian regime, especially the Guards Corps and the Bassij, they damaged a number of government buildings, banks and vehicles belonging to the SSF. Reports say that hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested and the city is under the complete control of the Revolutionary Guards Corps and the State Security Forces.

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