The letter, which was not published by the tightly controlled Iranian media, was delivered to Mr. Khameneh'i hours after several hard line conservatives had urged the leader and other high-ranking officials to install an emergency situation, close the Majles, arrest several leading political activists among the reformers and clampdown on the press.

At about the same time, a senior pro-conservative commander of the Guards, that is also known as Sepah (army), or Pasdaran (guardians) had attacked 151 lawmakers who had called for the release Mr. Siamak Poorzand, a 71 years-old veteran journalist accused of fomenting dissidence and collaborating with anti-revolutionaries abroad for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and defended the banned Iran Freedom Movement.

"We have to beg you not to try to manipulate your mighty sons guardians of the Islam and revolution, for, in case you want to use them for bringing emergency situation, this could led to bloodshed among the Pasdaran", the dissident commanders warned Mr. Khameneh'i who, as the leader of the regime, is also commander in chief of all Armed Forces, including the Revolutionary Guards.

According to information obtained from informed sources by Iran Press Service, information confirmed Monday and Tuesday by Iranian press, former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has proposed a state of emergency be proclaimed by the leader, permitting the closure of the Majles which is dominated by the reformers and reduce the government to the strict minimum.

A former heir to the leadership, Ayatollah Montazeri was placed under house arrest in October 1997 after sharply criticising Ayatollah Khameneh'i for his lack of religious credentials and political skills.

Mr. Nima Rashedan, an expert on Iranian military and intelligence affairs says Pasdaran commanders had always been divided in two opposing groups, a minority that is subordinated to the leader and is under his payroll and a majority that follows the people, "with the minority trying to eliminate the rival group".

The growing interference of the Revolutionary Guards in the politics of the nation has caused concern among reformers, who are also angry at the President Mohammad Khatami’s silence, as the bulk of the Guard’s warnings and menaces are directed against reformist personalities and those who supports normalisation of ties with Washington, denounced as America’s "fifth column".

"Pasdaran’s political undertaking in favour of the conservatives are absolutely against both the Constitution and Ayatollah Khomeini’s testament, forbidding Iranian Armed Forces from entering politics", Mr. Sho’leh Sa’di said, adding that unlike other countries where the military take orders from the politicians, in the Islamic Republic, the politics are under the orders of the military.

But political analysts observed that the Revolutionary Guards’ high command, which is named by Mr. Khameneh'i, has always interfered with politics in Iran, taking the side of the ruling conservatives, defending particularly the positions of the leader against the reformists, intellectuals, dissidents and the press.

"In the last decade, we saw the Sepah at time controlling the Judiciary, the Radio and Television and several governorships. In fact, the state has become part of the Revolutionary Guards instead of the Guards being a force obedient to the state", Mr. Rashedan said during an interview with the BBC.