Khatami holds massive rally

About 30,000 supporters turned out for President Khatami's rally

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has used the main political rally of his campaign for re-election to re-state his vision for reforming Iran.

Mr Khatami told about 30,000 of his supporters that even his conservative rivals are taking up his message of change in the run-up to elections on 8 June.

"Four years ago, reforms were seen as counter-revolutionary and anti-religious," he said.

The road is long and there are many obstacles in our way, but there is no other way, in today's world, than to establish the rule of the people

Mohammad Khatami

"Now that everyone is talking about reform, they say I'm not able and that I'm incapable of achieving it."

In a reminder of the power of the Iran's conservatives to reign in Mr Khatami and his supporters, several people were arrested after the rally according to Iranian state radio.

The report gave no specific details on the number arrested but said demonstrators had left the rally and headed to the interior ministry, where they reportedly chanted anti-government slogans.

Reports say several hundred young people marched away from Shirudi stadium, where the rally was held, some carrying pictures of opposition leaders and journalists jailed by the conservative-dominated courts.

Poignant symbol

President Khatami's rally opened with an appearance by one of the most poignant symbols of the reform movement, Said Hajarian, the political strategist crippled in a gun attack last year.

Khatami's motorcade passes jubilant supporters

Unable to walk without assistance, Mr Hajarian told the crowd: "Myself, I will vote for Khatami again."

BBC Tehran correspondent Jim Muir says the rally was the biggest event of the election campaign.

It was the only rally of its kind staged by Mr Khatami while none of his nine competitors, all of them independent conservatives, could dream of filling up such a big sports stadium with thousands of cheering enthusiasts.

Vision for Iran

Our correspondent says Mr Khatami held out the same vision that won him 20 million votes and a surprise landslide victory over his right-wing rival four years ago.

A Khatami supporter finds shade under a reformist newspaper

He outlined his hope that Iran could be a country moving steadily towards religious democracy and freedom, with justice for all. He said it should become a country where the law was not a tool but a framework, where the system's authority lay in its bond with the people and where dissidents were tolerated and not thrown aside as subversives.

Mr Khatami also stressed the primacy of the nation's vast legions of young people.

They had to be the top priority, he said, in any political, economic or educational plans - especially the large numbers of young women now entering the job market.

Disappointment

Many Khatami supporters are disappointed that he has not been able to score many tangible achievements in the past four years in the teeth of entrenched opposition from powerful hardliners.

Our correspondent says the thousands attending the rally clearly understood his problems. They are willing to be patient and they will turn out to vote.

But his campaign managers are worried that others may not. They will be striving to ensure the biggest possible turnout in the election which has focused largely on how many votes will return Mr Khatami to office.