A senior Iranian official has warned that President Mohammad Khatami's government may resign if it cannot persuade hardliners to overturn a decision to bar hundreds of liberal candidates from a national election, the official IRNA news agency reported today.
One liberal newspaper reported that Mr Khatami himself may step down if the decision, which barred around 80 of parliament's sitting 290 MPs from running in the election, forces the February 20th parliamentary vote to be called off.
However, a government source denied the newspaper report that Mr Khatami could resign.
Vice President Mohammad Satarifar, who heads the state Management and Planning Office, said Mr Khatami's government had been in a state of shock since the unelected hardline Guardian Council announced on Sunday it had vetoed about half of aspiring candidates for election.
But he said the government "still hopes it can eliminate the difficulties and safeguard national interests properly."
The political crisis is seen as a key test of Mr Khatami's resolve. The Guardian Council's decision highlighted his government's relative impotence compared with the power enjoyed by unelected conservatives who also control the judiciary, armed forces and state media.
Mr Khatami, who since winning power in a 1997 election has run into objections to his reforms at almost every turn from hardliners, has called the Guardian Council's decision "senseless".
Reformist MPs attending the regular legislative session today said they would resume their sit-in protest later in the day.