IRAN: Armed with a sharp wit and a concealed camera Iran's Vice President, Mr Mohammad Ali Abtahi, is offering Internet users a daily behind-the-scenes peek into the corridors of power in Iran.
Mr Abtahi, a mid-ranking cleric and one of President Mohammad Khatami's most trusted aides, started his own website (www.webnevesht.com) last month featuring amusing anecdotes and pictures from top level meetings in the Islamic Republic.
"None of the officials are aware that I'm taking their picture," said Mr Abtahi, who uses a tiny camera mounted on his mobile telephone to catch his colleagues unawares.
The website gives an unusually irreverent insight into the closed world of Iranian government which is generally seen through the filter of state-controlled media that present a serious and formal picture of the country's leaders.
One picture on the site shows government spokesman Mr Abdollah Ramazanzadeh sniffing a dark stain on the sleeve of his jacket with a caption: "It seems Mr Ramazanzadeh has spilled tea on his jacket."
Another shows a forlorn-looking official, head resting on one of his hands, above a caption: "Why did they make me Labour Minister?"
Mr Abtahi, who says his site is now attracting up to 7,000 visitors a day.
However, he said no-one has taken offence at the pictures or sense of humour.
"It's created a lighter atmosphere and people now see that officials are just like other human beings," he told Reuters.
He said he had decided to start the website because "I wanted to write my thoughts but in the official framework I couldn't say what I really think." Mr Abtahi is the latest Iranian cleric to turn to the Internet. Dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri maintained a regularly updated website during his five years of house arrest which ended this year.
Internet access is limited in Iran but growing fast, particularly among young people.
Mr Abtahi's website has sections in English and Arabic as well as Farsi.
It contains copies of media interviews he has given and a weblog where he recounts personal anecdotes or muses on such themes as mobile phone text messaging etiquette. - (Reuters)