Iran hardliners slam reformists ahead of polls

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iranian hardliners on Tuesday charged leading reformers with being too close to Iran's Western enemies, days ahead of an election expected to see conservatives consolidate their hold on parliament.

The hardline daily Kayhan newspaper slammed the brother of reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami for meeting the German ambassador just ahead of the latest nuclear sanctions against Tehran.

Meanwhile, a leading reformist MP in the outgoing parliament was sharply rebuked by conservative figures for giving an interview about Friday's elections to the Persian service of the US-funded Voice of America television.

The bitter attacks underlined the hostility between conservatives and reformists, who are themselves furious that their election chances have been wrecked by the disqualification of hundreds of candidates by hardline bodies.

Kayhan published what it claimed was a partial transcript of the meeting between Mohammad Reza Khatami and German ambassador Herbert Honsowitz that touched on the nuclear crisis and Friday's parliamentary elections.

"It was to be expected that in the conversation he (Mohammad Reza Khatami) would have challenged the ambassador of one of the hostile European nations," said the daily in a litany of complaints over the meeting.

In its headline, the paper accused Khatami of expressing "worries about Iran's nuclear victory in a confidential meeting with the German ambassador".

"The attack (by Kayhan) is to discredit the reformists ahead of the elections by denouncing them as the party of foreigners," said a diplomat in Tehran.

Mohammad Reza Khatami is a former deputy speaker of parliament who was also head of one of the main reformist parties, the Islamic Iran Participation Front.

The controversy over the meeting first erupted on Sunday when conservative deputy parliament speaker Mohammad Reza Bahonar held a debate with Khatami ahead of the parliamentary elections.

Expressing concern about contacts with "enemies", Bahonar publicly challenged Khatami to confirm he had met the German ambassador just before the UN Security Council passed a third set of sanctions earlier this month.

Khatami confirmed the meeting had taken place and insisted he had told the ambassador that any resolution against Tehran would harm democratic progress in Iran.

Meanwhile, a similar controversy was brewing over an interview given this week from the United States by leading reformist MP Noureddine Pir Mouazaem to the VoA, a channel heartily disliked by Iran's Islamic leaders.

Pir Mouazem criticised the disqualifications of reformists and raised doubts about the importance of the elections in the interview, which was roundly mocked on state television news late Monday

"Some go to the foreigners and criticise the parliament, the government and the system on American television," outgoing parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel seethed at a major conservative rally in Tehran.

"This is neither defending independence or principals," he added.

Another MP Elias Naderan commented according to the Fars news agency: "Parliament is not a place for spies and asylum seekers."

Hadad Adel expressed confidence that conservatives would retain their control of parliament -- a point already accepted by reformists after the loss of their leading candidates the pre-election vetting.

The authorities will be pulling out all the stops to ensure a mass turnout in a show of national unity Friday, to prevent a repeat of the 2004 elections where barely half the electorate voted.

"I am not going to vote as the MPs only think about about their own pockets and they are not caring about people's demands. Look at all the inflation and high prices," said Morteza Mobara, 35, a motorbike courier.

But Mazieh Nassir, a Koran teacher, said: "I will vote as it is a religious and national duty. But I want MPs to do something for young people so they do not become drug addicts. They have to think about creating employment."