The prominent Iranian conservative, Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, has been re-elected as parliamentary speaker, scoring a comfortable victory over a supporter of the reformist president, Mohammad Khatami.

Mr Nateq-Nouri secured one-hundred-and-sixty-five votes, compared with eighty-four for his opponent, Majid Ansari.

The BBC Middle East correspondent says the Iranian president's supporters in parliament are divided between moderate reformists and radical leftists, and decided to contest the election only at a late stage.

Our correspondent says the next focus for the constitutional struggle between conservatives and reformers is likely to be elections in September for the Council of Experts, which has the authority to appoint or dismiss Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.