Most Iran ministers ready to quit in election row

Four vice presidents and 12 ministers were among top Iranian officials threatening to quit if hardliners do not reverse a ban on hundreds of reformists running in parliamentary polls, officials said yesterday.

And in a speech to state governors, who have also threatened to resign over the mass vetting of candidates, liberal President Mohammad Khatami hinted he may one day lead a mass walkout.

"I believe we should all remain steadfast on the scene and if one day we were asked to leave the scene we will do so together," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

But the Guardian Council, an unelected hardline watchdog body which has barred around half of 8,200 aspiring candidates for the February 20 vote, said it would not bow to pressure.

"The Guardian Council will act based on law and the record of its past performance proves it will not yield to any pressure and commotion," the official IRNA news agency quoted Guardian Council spokesman Mohammad Jahromi as saying.

The list of officials who had written to Khatami saying they were prepared to resign included four out of the six vice-presidents, 12 out of 20 ministers and two lower-ranking officials, one of the officials told Reuters.

He said they had set a deadline of one week for the Guardian Council to back down or else they would resign.

The threat raised the stakes in the struggle between hardliners and reformists and could increase pressure on Khatami to step down in solidarity with his colleagues, analysts said.

Reformist MP Mohsen Armin said Khatami would have to quit if hardliners won back control of parliament from reformists.

"The pressure and confrontations would be so intense he would have no other choice but to resign and Khatami is very well aware of this," he told Reuters.

But the moderate Khatami has always tried to avoid confrontation with hardliners who have blocked his reforms.