Iran's Khatami in rare walk-out
"President Mohammed Khatami walked out of a meeting of Iran's top arbitration body yesterday to protest a decision to hike the budget of a hardline body that has stymied his attempts at reform, legislators said.
The unprecedented action by Khatami, who has tended to avoid direct confrontation with his conservative opponents, is likely to exacerbate tensions between rival political factions over the power wielded by unelected hardliners...."