His victory was attributed largely to support from young people and women, impressed by his vision of "religious democracy".

President Khatami's first term ushered in some liberalisation, exemplified by a renaissance of the print media and improved relations with states inside and outside the region.

In January 1998 he held out the prospect of rapprochement with the United States, by addressing the American nation on CNN to stress that Iran had "no hostility" towards them.

In September 1998, the president addressed the UN General Assembly to propose that it declare 2001 the year of "Dialogue among Civilisations". The proposal, aimed at fostering global tolerance, was duly adopted.

Calls to resign

Yet his attempt to implement "Islamic democracy" at home found itself blocked by the country's conservative institutions. The initial blossoming of the media was followed by newspaper closures and the arrest of journalists.

Despite these setbacks and economic woes compounded by the fall in the oil price, President Khatami went on to win a second term in 2001. Though the turnout was lower than in 1997, his percentage of the vote rose.

In May 2003 an open letter signed by 153 deputies was read out in parliament, urging conservatives to give way to reforms. Otherwise, the letter says, Iran could face the same fate as Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

When students, once the president's natural constituency, took to the streets in June 2003 over the slow pace of reform, they called for his resignation along with that of hardliners.

In televised remarks, he defended the students' action.

"Our students have the right to stage their protests and, fortunately, they have demonstrated their maturity in so doing," he said.

But he also reacted to President Bush's comment that the protests showed Iranians wanted freedom with a warning:

"We will not allow any foreigner to interfere in our destiny."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

Once considered a progressive force, he is widely seen to have moved closer to the conservative camp since the election of the reformist President, Mohammad Khatami.

President for two terms from 1989-97, Mr Rafsanjani is currently chairman of the powerful Expediency Council, as well as a deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts.

The Expediency Council arbitrates in disputes between the Majlis, Iran's parliament, and the Guardian Council, which can block legislation. The Assembly of Experts appoints the Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Anyone who stretches out their hands towards Iran will have those hands cut off," he said in one sermon.

And he warned students who took to the streets in June over the slow pace of reform that the US was "pinning its hopes" on them. "They should take care they are not entrapped by the Americans' sinister networks."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet

The differences between British and Iranian policy over Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East are the focus of an Iranian radio commentary on the visit.

"On the whole, it must be said that the talks between Mr Kharrazi and Mr Jack Straw in Tehran demonstrated that a clear division of opinion remains between the two countries."

Iran media spotlight Iran-UK spat

But the paper is in no doubt that Mr Straw's visit has been "a tough one" following Tony Blair's remarks in which he said the recent anti-government demonstrations in Iran deserved Britain's support. Iranian officials condemned the remarks as interference in the country's internal affairs.

"Blair has spoilt the game. Straw is expected to mend fences," it says.

The conservative Resalat warns Mr Straw that the UK Government's "strong diplomatic stances" could damage ties with Iran.

"If Jack Straw is bearing an intemperate message we remind the British that, from now on, there is a clear link between their stances and their interests in Iran," it says.

US puppet?

The hardline Jomhuri-ye Eslami believes Mr Straw's visit illustrates that "London has turned into a political clown that only repeats America's words in order to receive something in return".

This view is disputed in the centre-right Entekhab.

"Straw's visit to Iran does not amount to a step by the US to solve the problems between the two countries, nor is Britain playing the mediator," it says.

He has come to Tehran to "make demands" on behalf of the UK Government, according to the paper.

"This creates an opportunity for Tehran to voice its demands decisively, in exactly the same way that they raise their demands."

The reformist Etemaad believes Mr Straw has Europe's interest at heart.

"If Europe loses Iran as it did Afghanistan and Iraq, it effectively has to give up the Middle East or pin its hope on this strategic region within the limits of America's will."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

Iran was one of the first countries to be occupied by the early Islamic armies which burst out from Arabia in the seventh century.

Persia, as it was, had been one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, and has long maintained a distinct cultural identity within the Islamic world by retaining its own language and adhering to the Shi'i interpretation of Islam.

In 1979 the country became the centre of world attention when the monarchy was overthrown and a unique Islamic republic was declared, in which religious clerics - headed by Ayatollah Khomeini - wielded ultimate political control. There followed an unstable and bloody period, including an eight-year war against Iraq, in which the country's oil wealth plummeted from its previous high levels.

Two decades later, Iran entered another era of political and social transformation. The victory of the liberals over the long-ruling conservative elite in parliamentary elections in April 2000 signalled a sea-change.

President Mohammad Khatami's support for greater social and political freedoms has made him popular with the young - an important factor in electoral terms as over 50% of the population is under the age of 25. His liberal ideas have, however, put him at odds with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamene'i, and hard-liners reluctant to lose sight of established Islamic traditions.

• First vice-president: Mohammad Reza Aref
• Defence minister: Ali Shamkhani
• Foreign minister: Kamal Kharrazi
• Interior minister: Hojjat ol-Eslam Seyyed Abdolvahed Musavi-Lari
• Oil minister: Bizhan Namdar-Zangeneh

The struggle for influence and power in Iran is played out in the country's domestic state media.

The relative freedom of the press, a tangible achievement of President Khatami's reformist government, has been a target for conservatives. Many pro-reform publications have been closed and reformist writers and editors jailed. The conservative judiciary has led the campaign against the liberal media, with President Khatami and parliament apparently powerless to intervene.

The broadcast media have seen some changes but remain more restricted than the press. Curbs on satellite television are less severe than before - it is tolerated to some extent. Satellite TV stations operated by exiles in the US are said to have played a role in student protests in 2003.

State-run IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) national networks are supplemented by a dozen provincial channels. The Jam-e Jam international TV networks are available on most continents via satellite.

Television is very popular in Iran; more than 80% of the population watch TV. The most popular network is the third state channel, the youth channel.

IRIB's main radio channel broadcasts around the clock. IRIB also operates a parliamentary network and Radio Koran, which carries programmes on Islamic and Koranic subjects including recitation and interpretation.

The Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (VIRI) external service has been expanding its services in recent years, adding new languages, programmes and Internet broadcasts.

Many foreign broadcasters target listeners in Iran; they include the Washington-backed Radio Farda, an entertainment-based station aimed at younger audiences.

Newspapers

Tehran Times - English-language

Iran Daily - English-language

Aftab-e Yazd (Sun of Yazd) - reformist

Kayhan (Universe) - conservative daily

Nowrooz (New Year) - reformist

Resalat (Mission) - conservative

Television

IRIB - state-run

Radio

IRIB - state-run

News agencies

Islamic Republic News Agency - English-language

Islamic Students News Agency - English-language

Internet
There are around seven commercial internet service providers (ISPs), including NRI (Neda Rayaneh Institute), the largest. By December 2001 more than 420,000 people were estimated to have access to the internet. There are many internet cafes.