This is the verdict of many Iranian analysts both inside and outside the country who said that by his decision, the embattled President strengthened the position of the hard-liners while dividing the already battered reformists, particularly in the Majles, where the fragmented Second Khordad Coalition was leading a difficult battle against the authoritarian rule of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i.

Last week, after Mr. Khameneh'i had again ruled out any negotiation with Washington and castigated those who defends the idea of talking with Americans as a "bunch of traitors who either ignore the a b c of politics or have no pride", the Judiciary power, which serves as his police and political arms, imposed a total black out on the issue and warned the press not to publish anything on defence of dialogue with the United States.

The announcement created an uproar among some reformists, mainly in the Majles, where members of the National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee not only were supporting the idea of meeting with American counterparts, but also had organised a by partisan forum to debate the issue, considered as "vital" for the nation’s highest interests.

Mr. Khameneh'i had banned public support for talks with America after the press had revealed that Iranian envoys had secretly met with unidentified "high-ranking" Americans in Cyprus.

Mr. Mohsen Mirdamadi, the House’s National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee’s Chairman confirmed the press, saying he was in possession of sound information about the Cyprus meeting, but did not gave any details.

The Younger Kharrazi, a nephew of the Foreign Affairs Minister Kamal Kharrrazi, resigned immediately after press divulgations, while official spokesmen categorically denied any involvement of Mr. Khatami’s government in any meetings with Americans.

[Pro-conservatives newspaper "Entekhab", considered as " serious and reliable" wrote three days ago that minister Kharrazi had offered his resignation to the President, a report that was mildly denied by the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman, but confirmed by some Majles deputies].

Asked about the reasons behind the leader’s decision to impose a black out on defending talking to Washington – while leaving the press free of publishing articles and commentaries against --, most Iranian political analysts and observers said it was a clear demonstration of the leader’s increasing fragile position in the one hand and on the other, an effort to stop further revelations about the secret meetings, tagged as "Irangate II", a reference to secret contacts held between Tehran and the Reagan Administration at the height of tensions between the two sides in the eighties.

"Mr. Khameneh'i and his mentor, Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani, are very angry at the exposure of the secret talks between the Chairman of the Expediency Council and high-ranking American officials, conducted with proxies", a generally well-informed source told Iran Press Service, on condition of not be named.

Mr.Hoseyn Baqerzadeh, a human rights activist living in London also thinks that the present campaign of repression is linked to the negotiations that are held secretly with the Americans.

"As public dissatisfaction increases, reformists nor the conservatives have any solution to pacify the tensions and challenges of the authorities by the public, a challenge and tensions that have reached the small towns", Mr. Ahmad Salamatian, an influential analyst of Iranian affairs told the Persian service of the BBC.

But some reformist MMs (members of the Majles) publicly criticised the decision, saying the Judiciary’s ban was outside this power’s competence.

"Not only debating issues of national security and foreign policy is of the Legislature’s competence, but no one can prevent people from expressing their views on issues they consider vital for their interests and future", pointed out Dr. Mohammad Reza Khatami, a vice-Speaker and General Secretary of the Islamic Iran Participation Party, the nation’s largest political formation, who is also the President’s younger brother.

But other reformist deputies immediately opposed him.

"People’s representatives have the right to debate all issues related to domestic and foreign policies and the Judiciary’s statement can not stop them from performing their constitutional duties", observed Mr. Mohammad Kazemi, a member of the Majles Judicial Committee.

Mrs. Elaheh Koola’i, an outspoken and influential member of the National Affairs and Foreign Affairs Committee of the reformists-dominated Majles described the "astonishing and unprecedented" move as "utterly illegal and unconstitutional", and reiterated that the Committee would continue debating the question of talking or not talking with Americans.

The remarks were interpreted as the first major rift between a majority of the reformists with the powerless President they are supporting.