Peace award divides Iran

[chapter32]

...

"I hope the people who do not approve of her will now reconsider their position," Sharbanou Amani, one of 13 women MPs in the Iranian parliament, told the French news agency AFP. "It is a source of pride for Iran's intellectuals."

Elaheh Koulaie, another female reformist MP, said the prize "shows the world community that the democracy process in Iran is going forward."

Other reformists pointed to the huge discrepancy between the international recognition conferred on Ms Ebadi and the causes she is struggling for, and the dire situation she and her colleagues face at home.

"This prize carried the message that Europe intends to put further pressure on human rights issues in Iran as a political move to achieve its particular objectives," said Amir Mohebian, a commentator at the hardline newspaper Resalat.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3180758.stm