Iran showed its divided face yesterday when an unprecedented public-opinion poll revealed a strong vein of pro-American sentiment, so strong that the pollster was arrested.

The poll, which had been ordered by Iran's parliament, queried 1,500 people across the country about their opinions on the United States. The results found 74 per cent of respondents over the age of 15 in favour of opening political talks with Washington; 46 per cent said they think U.S. policies on Iran are "to some extent correct."

Dissatisfied with that result, Iran's conservative judiciary took strong action against the National Institute for Research Studies and Opinion Polls, a government-run think tank. It ordered the organization's doors sealed on Monday, and arrested director Behrouz Geranpayeh yesterday, ordering him to appear in court today on charges of "publishing lies to excite public opinion."

The judiciary also took disciplinary action against the chief of the Iranian government news agency IRNA, Abdollah Nasseri, who published the poll results late last month.

President Mohammed Khatami's reformist government strongly condemned the judiciary's move, confirming yesterday that it had actually asked three polling groups to conduct surveys on attitudes toward the U.S.

Government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh called the polling body "one of the most credible" in the country.

"It has done nothing wrong and it has just carried out a poll that was ordered by parliament," he told reporters.

The poll confirmed that many Iranians hold pro-Western views sharply different from those of the country's hard-line leaders. This has already been demonstrated in elections, in which liberal reformers are repeatedly elected; and in the past year's pro-American demonstrations, which have contrasted with the official anti-American and anti-Zionist activities.

After U.S. President George W. Bush denounced Iran in his "axis of evil" speech earlier this year, the parliament asked to open talks with Washington in the hope of reducing the hostility. But those efforts were quashed by the religious judiciary, which outlawed any discussions. The parliament commissioned the polls in response.

Mr. Khatami's efforts to liberalize the country's laws during the past four years have been repeatedly hampered by religious authorities and conservative judges, who have blocked legislation, forbidden candidates from running for office, shut down more than 80 pro-reform newspapers and jailed dozens of journalists, students and government supporters.

He recently introduced two bills that would strengthen the parliament's authority and prevent the religious minority from interfering with candidates and legislation, but those bills were denounced yesterday by conservatives as unconstitutional and "counterrevolutionary."

Although Mr. Khatami's reformers have a large parliamentary majority, Iran's confusing structure of government also contains a 12-member governing council composed of religious mullahs who can block legislation they deem unconstitutional or offensive to Islam. In a deadlock, the bill can be vetoed by Iran's top religious official, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr. Khatami has said he will hold a referendum if the bills are blocked. Failing that, he has vowed to resign if the legislation fails, an event that would likely spark a political crisis.

But there were also indications yesterday that pro-reform Iranians are losing patience with Mr. Khatami's efforts. Iran's leading student organization, the Office to Consolidate Unity, issued a statement demanding the release of jailed students and demanding that Mr. Khatami get tougher in pushing the reform bills through parliament.

Otherwise, the statement read. Otherwise, "the hopes raised in society by these two bills will disappear."