Iran is facing a major constitutional crisis after the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, postponed the swearing-in of President Mohammad Khatami, effectively blocking the formation of a new reformist government.
Ayatollah Khamenei's halting of Mr Khatami's investiture yesterday came after the reformist-controlled parliament on Saturday snubbed candidates nominated by the judiciary to take vacant seats on the powerful Guardians Council.
"It is appropriate that the investiture ceremony in parliament takes place after the nomination of the members of the council," Ayatollah Khamenei said in a statement on Saturday.
Conservative control over the oversight body, which supervises elections and examines laws to ensure their compatibility with the constitution and with Islamic precepts, was a major thorn in Mr Khatami's first tenure as president.
It meant that many of Mr Khatami's ambitious reforms were blocked.
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Mehdi Karubi, a close Khatami ally, yesterday proposed a compromise between the rival institutions to end the dispute, which is the latest in a long line of serious clashes between the Islamic republic's rival camps.
He proposed "to form a committee to solve the problem and reach a compromise on the issue with the people concerned".
He added that members of parliament, the judiciary and the country's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, "could be part of this committee."
However, he warned any delay in the investiture of Mr Khatami for his second and final four-year term risked causing "serious damage" to the 22-year-old Islamic regime.
Mr Karubi said as he left parliament that the swearing-in of Mr Khatami, who won a landslide victory against nine mostly-conservative challengers in the election on June 8th, "will be held on Tuesday in a public session".
The deputy speaker of parliament, President Khatami's brother and ally, Mr Mohammad-Reza Khatami, said parliament would meet again on Tuesday, but might gather for an extraordinary session today.
On Thursday, Mr Khatami went through an initial investiture before the leaders of the Islamic regime, including Ayatollah Khamenei, but he cannot form a government before his parliamentary investiture.
The Guardians Council is composed of 12 members: six are chosen by Ayatollah Khamenei, as supreme leader, and six by the reformist-dominated parliament from a list which is prepared by the conservative-controlled judiciary.