While Khatami's embattled government has congratulated Ebadi for her win -- albeit after some initial confusion on how to digest the news -- they have shown extreme caution in their references to a figure loathed by many powerful conservatives.

In the past, it would have been hard to see Khatami not speak on such a prestigious prize win for an Iranian Muslim woman, who like him is a moderate espousing values such as human rights and dialogue.

Paying lip service to such issues, as well as championing his pet topic of "dialogue among civilisations", helped the mild-mannered cleric sweep to power in 1997 and again in 2001 on a wave of women's and youth support.

Ebadi has even stated that she was part of the wave of support behind Khatami that saw him win a landslide in 1997.

But increasingly, Khatami appears to be torn between his deep ties to Iran's complex power structure, and the frustration of many of his supporters who see him as failing to deliver his promise of "Islamic democracy".

His is a delicate path under the eye of conservatives -- who wield more power than the president and his supporters in parliament through their control of the judiciary, legislative oversight bodies and security forces.

That much has been illustrated by his delayed responses or prolonged silence on other key questions in recent months, such as anti-regime protests, widespread arrests of dissidents, students or journalists and an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ultimatum over Iran's suspect nuclear programme.

Prominent hardliners, who take their cue from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been quick to suggest the Nobel prize win was some kind of "conspiracy" -- in other words yet another sign of UN-backed international pressure on the country.

"Khatami's hands are tied," one analyst explained.

Furthermore, analysts here have pointed to Ebadi's appearance in Paris with exiled Iranian dissidents, her embracing by other men wishing to congratulate her as well as her decision not to wear the compulsory headscarf.

And on top of that, she was quick to demand the freeing of all political prisoners back home.

"The conservatives would have certainly seen this and must be furious," one diplomat said. "So it leaves Khatami in a bit of an embarrassing situation, and obviously it seems he'll wait for the fuss to die down before he says something."

Quoted by the official news agency IRNA, Ebadi has also reflected widespread impatience with Khatami and the pace of his reforms.

"After the election of Mr. Khatami as Iran's president, a lot of reforms were done on women's status, but these reforms are not enough. Khatami's electoral triumph would not have been possible without the participation of women, so therefore we are expecting that the president does more," she said.

Khatami and his reform movement are facing what many analysts and observers see as a critical juncture -- their bid to reform Iran has led to some changes, but not the promised fundamental shake-up of the nearly 25-year-old clerical regime.

A bid by parliament to give greater powers to the president and strip conservative oversight bodies of their right to vet electoral candidates -- seen as a last-ditch reform bid -- appears to have failed.

The mandate of the reformist-controlled Majlis runs out early next year, and parliamentary elections are scheduled for February 20, 2004. Even the president, whose second and final term in office ends in 2005, has admitted that the run-up to the vote is "very sensitive historical juncture".

Many analysts, however, have already written the president off.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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