Author:
Publication: BBC News
Date: February 13, 2001
President Khatami's reforms are
under threat
Iran's reformist President Mohammad
Khatami has issued a tough warning to conservative forces in country, saying
that security could get out of control if the people were deceived.
Mr Khatami said the biggest danger
threatening Iranian society was misuse of power by the establishment.
Durable stability could only be
achieved, he said, if the establishment recognised differences of opinion.
Mr Khatami's comments reflect an
ongoing power struggle with hard-line factions, which have used the judiciary
and the military to curb his plans to ease social and political restrictions.
'Narrow concepts'
Addressing the conference on public
security and national unity at the Interior Ministry, Mr Khatami thanked
the Iranian people for "tolerating pressures and organised attempts to
disappoint" them.
He said: "There are those...
who accept no change.
"Their God is their narrow and dark
concepts that fight all the people's demands in the name of religion.
"We should be worried that, God
forbid, one day our people will feel the authorities are not meeting their
real demands and that dirty hands have succeeded in disappointing them
and thus alienating them.
"Under such circumstances, no military,
security or judicial power will be able to save the country."
Conservative backlash
The hardliners control key, unelected
institutions, including the judiciary, broadcast networks, the military
and police.
Since losing power in parliament
a year ago, conservatives have tried to reassert their power by closing
reformist newspapers and jailing prominent reformists and journalists.
On Saturday, Mr Khatami also used
an address to thousands of people celebrating the anniversary of the Islamic
revolution to attack hardliners who, he said, sought to "misrepresent Islam".
But unrest broke out in the capital
as he spoke, with clashes between security forces and students seeking
greater freedom of expression.