21.   In a separate incident, a mob attacked a leading moderate cleric, Ayatollah Mehdi Karubi, in a Tehran mosque last week, the newspaper Arya reported Saturday.

22.   In his interview, Khatami, a moderate cleric, expressed regret at the embassy seizure, a view that may not go down well with the hard-liners.

23.   In January, political hard-liners threw stones at a moderate cleric, Jalaledin Taheri, forcing him to abandon the Friday sermon in Isfahan.

24.   Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, a relatively moderate cleric who took office in August, has said he would welcome cultural exchanges between the two countries.

25.   Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the moderate cleric who took over in August, has made closer ties with Arab neighbors a priority.

26.   Iranians place great hope that Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric who became president in August, will follow through on promises of greater liberty.

27.   It also has hampered efforts by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the moderate cleric who took over in August, to build closer ties with other Gulf Arab neighbors.

28.   It has also hampered efforts by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the moderate cleric who took over in August, for closer ties with other Gulf Arab neighbors.

29.   Iran has toned down its anti-American rhetoric since Khatami, a moderate cleric, took over as president in August.

30.   It said Mohammad Nejad-Hosseinian would replace Kamal Kharrazi, who was appointed foreign minister by President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric who took office in August.