Bahonar is considered the
Intellectual force within the conservative faction.

A top hard-line ideologue has accepted defeat in parliamentary elections, saying in a report on Tuesday that his camp will have to reconsider its policies. Meanwhile, an influential reformer has said talks with archenemy America would not be a "sin." Talks with the United States, a more liberal press and increased personal freedoms are expected to be among the issues discussed in the next Parliament, or Majlis, which will be seated in June. Moderates are poised to wrest the legislature from hard-line control for the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the pro-U.S. shah and brought the Shiite Muslim clergy to power. The election results are seen as a national endorsement of President Mohammad Khatami's program for cultural, social and political reforms. The results also are a clear rejection of the restrictive rules imposed by the clergy in the name of Islam. "We will not change our principles and positions, but it is natural that we should reconsider our policies and methods," Mohammadreza Bahonar, a conservative lawmaker in the outgoing Parliament, was reported as saying. The independent Iran Vij daily quoted him on Tuesday as saying that the reformist coalition was "more organized" in the elections. "Anyway, our rivals will form a majority in the next Majlis," Bahonar was quoted as saying. Bahonar is considered the intellectual force within the conservative faction. He is virtually certain to lose his Tehran seat, according to partial vote count. His comments marked the hard-liners' first acknowledgment of defeat. Their officials have refused to talk to reporters.

Bahonar played a key role in the 1998 impeachment of former Interior Minister Abdollah Nouri, a key Khatami ally. Nouri was jailed in November on charges of religious dissent and for advocating better ties with the United States. His trial was seen a ploy by the hard-line controlled judiciary to keep him out of the parliamentary elections. Nouri, on a four-day furlough from prison, spoke again about relations with the United States. "Not to talk with any country is not a virtue, and to talk is not a sin," he told reporters on Monday. U.S. relations with Iran broke off during the 1979 revolution when demonstrators seized the U.S. Embassy and held 52 Americans captive until January 1981. Many Iranians, who welcome increased ties with the West and more political and social reforms, voted for the reformists in hopes of ending decades of international isolation and strict Islamic rule. According to the latest results broadcast by state television on Tuesday, reformists won all four seats in the northwestern city of Mashhad, raising their tally to 141 nationwide, only five short of a simple majority in the 290-member house. Of the 195 results announced so far, conservatives have won 44 seats and independents 10. Another 65 are to be decided in run-offs. Only results for 30 seats in Tehran are outstanding, and reformers are leading the vote count in nearly all of them, state television said. In Tehran, more than 55 percent of votes counted so far were for Mohammadreza Khatami, the younger brother of the president and head of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest reform group.

The president also has called for people-to-people exchanges with the United States, but has stopped short of calling for talks. The conservative clergy considers the United States Iran's archenemy, making opening of contacts with Washington among the most sensitive of issues. But in an editorial on Tuesday, the hard-line Tehran Times newspaper said Friday's election signaled the start of "a new era in Iran characterized by better domestic situation as well as improved relations with the outside world." One of the top five vote-getters in Tehran is Nouri's younger brother, Alireza, who has said that the issue of ties with the United States should be decided in a national referendum. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who had been identified with the hard-liners, was in the 29th position in Tehran. He still could scrape through, face a runoff or be eliminated. Even though beaten in the elections, the hard-liners still wield enough power through key institution such as the Guardians Council, which must approve all legislation. It is not clear if they will want to use those powers to block the reformists and risk angering a majority of Iranians. A remarkably free press - the result of Khatami's reforms - and live broadcasts of Parliamentary proceedings could keep the hard-liners from resorting to heavy handed methods.Yahoo News

23 February 2000, Copyright © Turkish Daily News

Tehran - The Associated Press