Visibly afraid of public demonstrations in support of president Mohammad Khatami and the arrested Mayor of Tehran, demonstrations which may take an anti-regime, anti leader colour, the authorities cancelled the important religious ceremonies of "eyd qorban". 

Falling this year on 8^th of April, the ceremonies, held at the end of the Haj pilgrimage and during which faithful kills muttons in the millions in celebration of Abrham's sacrificing of his son Esma'il, father of the Muslims, are usually the occasion of national commemoration presided over by the conservative ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the Islamic Republic, who routinely uses the occasion to play his favourite anti-Western diatribes.

Well informed sources in Tehran told the IPS that the religious ceremonies were called off on orders from Mr Khameneh'i after he was warned by Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) and Law Enforcement Forces commanders of "the possibility of massive, uncontrollable demonstrations of the public" in support of Mr Khatami, who, ever since the detention of Mr Qolam Hossein Karbaschi, has declared an open war on the Judiciary Chief, the unpopular ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a close associate of the leader.

Mr Khameneh'i was briefed on the general situation by military chiefs whom he had summoned to his residence Wednesday before the marathon late night meeting held with the Heads of the three Powers plus the ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president and the present head of the Council for the Discernment of State's Interests.

Military commanders informed the leader, who is the Supreme Commander of all Iranian Armed Forces that the general public, in its great and overwhelming majority supports the president and considering government's plans for mass demonstrations in support of the Mayor, "it would be very difficult to control the situation".

They told Mr Khameneh'i that the situation was "very critical", presenting "symptoms of pre revolutionary days when soldiers would fraternise with rioters and officers pledging secretly obedience to the grand ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeiny.

Confrontation between the reformist president and the conservative, hard-line leader took a dramatic turn after the Judiciary set a trap for Mr Karbaschi and transferred immediately to the notorious Evin prison on charges of embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power, bribery and corruption.

The arrest of Mr Karbaschi, a staunch supporter of Mr Khatami was seen as a bold move by the conservatives to reach the very person of the president, whose surprise victory at the presidential elections last May and his trouncing of the ayatollah Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, Speaker of the Majles (Parliament) who was the candidate of the conservatives and backed by Mr Khameneh'i.

Very powerful and popular, the 45 years old Mayor of Tehran, who has rank of minister, has a seat in the cabinet room and owns the nation's largest circulation newspaper played an instrumental role in the landslide triumph of Mr Khatami, a relatively unknown cleric, a victory interpreted widely as a rejection by the people of both the leader and the system of velayat e faqih he incarnates.

Mr Khatami promptly protested to the arrest, accused the Judiciary of illegality and called on the leader to order the release of Mr Karbaschi, whom he declared would continue to be regarded as the Mayor of Tehran, regardless of his arrest.

Meanwhile, protest against the "arbitrary" detention of Mr Karbaschi and voices in support of both Mr Khatami continued unabated. As 700 Iranian mayors signed a petition in support of their Tehran colleague and called on the leader for his prompt release, in the conservative-controlled Majles, several independent MPs jointed the pro-Khatami faction, thus establishing a kind of balance between the pro president and pro-leader fractions. 

The League for the Defence of Islamic Revolution Values, headed by former Information Minister, hojatoleslam Mohammad Mohammadi Reyshahri also came in support of the Mayor. A Representative of the leader for pilgrimage affairs, Mr Reyshahri is reported to jockey for replacing the destabilised ayatollah Yazdi at the head of the Judiciary.

Newspapers also joined the chorus. The conservative "Resalat", close to the bazaar which hates the Mayor and "Keyhan", which is controlled by the Information Ministry supports the action of the Judiciary, a majority of other dailies both in Tehran and in the province denounces the detention, presenting it as a deliberate act against the president. 

"It's perfectly legal to look in the Municipality's finances and bring to justice the culprits, regardless of their rank and position, but why is that the Judiciary zooms at Tehran municipality and leave alone the mostaz'afin bonyad (Deprived Foundation) which is involved in a multi-billion US Dollars embezzlement of public funds. Why is that the Judiciary is so severe with Mr Karbaschi but close his eyes on Mr Mohsen Rafiq Doust, the Chairman of that organisation. 

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