TEHRAN - The first 100 days in office of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami have been characterized by a gentler style and new tone but little of the substantive reform expected by the population.

"His margin of maneuver is slim," said a Tehran-based European diplomat. "If he goes too fast, there is a risk he will be totally paralyzed by the conservatives who remain powerful.

"But if he is timid, it is the people he will have deceived."…

Khamenei and his conservative allies control or exert influence on most levers of power -- including the armed forces, the judicial system and the intelligence services.

They also have under their wing the bazaar, a center of economic power, the state radio and television as well as the Friday prayer leaders -- all of which are instrumental in shaping public opinion….

Officials in charge of the press and cinema industry have promised to ease restrictions and lift bans previously slapped on many newspapers or movies.

However, such achievements are still very vulnerable to a possible conservative backlash and the government has taken no concrete action to guarantee such rights.

There are also no signs that the government will succeed in its promises of tackling chronic unemployment and economic hardship, the most important issues for the population at large….

On foreign relations, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi has adopted a new measured tone, but amid a power struggle, no dramatic change is in sight for future ties with the West.

Anti-American rhetoric has not subsided in the least, and there are no signs that European Union ambassadors, recalled seven months ago in reaction to German charges of terrorism against Tehran, will return to Iran soon.

Iran Court Bans Tehran Mayor From Leaving Country, Reuter, November 10 

TEHRAN - An Iranian court has banned Tehran's mayor from leaving Iran, in the latest series of controversial trials of city officials on corruption charges, newspapers said on Monday.

The daily Iran said the closed court in Tehran on Sunday also freed Gholamhossein Karbaschi against a bail of five billion riyals ($1.7 million) after ruling that he was suspected of complicity in the alleged irregularities at the municipality.

Karbaschi… had appeared to answer questions related to cases in which several of his aides have received jail and flogging terms for charges including embezzlement and bribery.

Conservatives have accused Karbaschi of mismanagement and of using city funds to back the presidential campaign of Khatami, who defeated the conservative candidate in May.

Man Who Tortured Wife Gets Conditional Sentence!, Agence France Presse, November 5 

TEHRAN - A struggling Iranian writer repeatedly beat up his wife and locked her for hours inside a room to draw material from her reactions to write a "realistic" novel, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The woman, who has filed for divorce, told a judge that her husband struck her under various pretexts and then would "scrutinize me and take notes as I was squirming in pain," the daily Iran reported….

At times, "he would lock me inside a room for hours and stare at me through a window above the door to take note of my reactions for what he hoped to be a realistic best-selling book," the woman added, calling her husband "insane."…

The man apologized to his wife but said he loved her and would not consent to a divorce…

The judge said he would be sent to jail if his wife refused to forgive him.

Iranian Editor Detained for 'Spying', Agence France Presse, November 9

TEHRAN - The editor-in-chief of the English-language daily Iran News has been arrested on espionage charges, Jomhouri-Islami newspaper reported Sunday.

The newspaper said Morteza Firouzi, who disappeared several months ago, had been "detained for spying on behalf of an eastern country." It did not provide further details.

The weekly publication Kayhan Havai reported at the end of September that Firouzi was detained for "spying" for the United States, a charge punishable by death in Iran.

Iran News has never publicly mentioned its chief editor's fate, but since October 9 his name has been missing from the paper's masthead although it had remained there for some time after rumors surfaced about his disappearance.

Iran News, considered close to the foreign ministry, is widely read in Iranian political circles and by diplomats and foreigners here. It is one of four English language dailies published in Tehran.

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