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Khatami and Nuri keep the vote in the family

TEHRAN, Jan 28 (AFP) - The names of Khatami and Nuri, two of the most prestigious in Iranian politics, will appear on the ballot for next month's parliamentary elections, with their owners hoping to form a dynamic duo to help push forward reform -- backing the policies of their elder brothers.

Mohammad-Reza Khatami, 40, and Ali-Reza Nuri, 36, have made their own careers -- both are doctors -- far from the political arena, where they are still novices.

But they revere their respective brothers -- the moderate president, Mohammad Khatami whose reforms have been hampered at every step by a conservative parliament, and the former interior minister, Abdollah Nuri, now in jail for "anti-Islamic propaganda," and idol of all those who want to "get things moving" in Iran.

"For those young people who elected Mohammad Khatami and who would have liked to elect Abdollah Nuri to parliament, these brothers are the duo with the winning ticket, even if they lack experience," said analyst Khosro Abedi.

Mohammed-Reza will head the 30 names on the Tehran list of the Participation Front, the left wing of the reformist faction and driving force of the Khordad 2 Front -- the coalition named after the date in 1997 of the elder Khatami's surprise election victory.

In such a position, he is sure of being elected.

Ali-Reza has no party allegiance, and could appear on a different list, but both are ardent Khatami supporters, and likely to work closely together in the future parliament, even if, as Nuri told AFP, "we do not have complete identity of views on everything."

"A lot of people contacted us, Mohammad-Reza and me, to persuade us to campaign jointly. We are very much in favour," he said.

Both point to polls indicating that Abdollah Nuri would have been "easily elected" if he had not been tried and imprisoned.

"It was the jailing of my brother which made up my mind. Abdollah encouraged me. It is a symbolic and political gesture, but also an emotional one," Nuri said.

The Nuri name will be a help "but I cannot count on all those who would have voted for him -- who would very likely have become speaker of parliament -- voting for me," he admitted.

As he put it at a public meeting in southern Tehran, he wanted to speak to "people who had turned up to see Nuri's brother, and others who had come for Ali-Reza."

Both Nuri and Khatami are in no doubt as to what is at stake in the election.

"Until now, elections were held to consolidate the regime, and competition was unimportant. This time, the result, whatever it may be, will determine the future of the regime and the revolution," Mohammad-Reza told a rally at Tehran university on Wednesday.

"Today there are two ways of looking at the Islamic Republic, religious loyalty and freedom," he said. Ali-Reza agrees.

"If the reformers are elected, that will help the progress of reforms, and help to get the country out of the political dead-end where it is now stuck. But if it is the conservatives, which would be surprising, Mr. Khatami will run into even greater obstacles for the rest of his mandate," he said.

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