Iran reformists' meet starts in sombre atmosphere

[democratic]

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Islamic Iran Participation Front leader blasts hardliners for their new wave of confronting free press.

By Farhad Pouladi - TEHRAN


Members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) had many other reasons for their sombre demeanour. Powerful regime hardliners barred most of them from even contesting February's polls, banishing them into a tense political wilderness and paving the way for a conservative victory.

"The organising of the Majlis elections was an historical political about-turn," IIPF leader Mohammad Reza Khatami, the brother of embattled President Mohammad Khatami, lamented in his opening speech.

"This targeted Iran's democracy and today we are facing censorship of the press. This new wave of confronting the free press shows that there is a serious intention not to tolerate any voice of criticism," he said in a speech that sounded like an obituary for the reformist movement.

From 2000 to 2004, the IIPF was the dominant elected political force in the Islamic republic, thrust into office on the back of widespread calls for a shake-up in the way the 25-year-old clerical regime was run.

In parliament, reformists pushed through a wealth of legislation tackling anything from the lumbering state-dominated economy to the regime's tough social restrictions, only to see their bills blocked by conservative-run political oversight bodies.

"We are going to continue functioning. For us the goal is not to remain in the regime, but our goal is to advance reforms. We believe that in order to peacefully democratise society, we should harness all the potential of the regime and society," he said.

The party conference winds up on Friday, with the IIPF due to elect a new leader. The president's brother is widely expected to keep his job.