Tehran - Supporters of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami have launched a broad counter-offensive against their conservative critics, seeking to regain the political momentum ahead of key polls early next year.
After weeks of setbacks at the hands of the entrenched clerical establishment, pro-Khatami forces have rallied strongly in an attempt to revitalise a popular reform movement launched with the president's surprise landslide victory in 1997. More than 100 leading political figures and senior officials, including the president's two brothers, a vice-president and four ministers, announced the formation of a new political party at the weekend, the Islamic Iran Participation Front.
