By Jim Muir BBC Tehran correspondent

Perhaps the best way to describe Iranian politics at the moment is that it is in a state of flux.

Some would say more bluntly that it is a mess.

No sooner does a series of events start to point towards a new trend than something happens to reverse it.

A month or so ago there were distinct signs of the emergence of some kind of national accord in the face of mounting hostile pressure from the United States.

Right-wing circles, still very powerful despite reformist election victories, appeared to be relenting in their attitude to those seeking change. A spirit of reconciliation seemed to be in the air.

Some fear social unrest is on the way

But all too briefly. Soon the signs of a counter-move began to appear.

Perhaps the most lively of the reformist newspapers, Bonyan, was closed down by the hardline judiciary, which has banned dozens of liberal publications in the past two years.

Reformists jailed

A leading reformist commentator, Ahmad Zeidabadi, was sentenced to nearly two years in jail.

A liberal cultural figure, Siamak Pourzand, who is more than 70-years-old and in poor health, was given an eight-year sentence on charges of having links with counter-revolutionaries abroad.

Ebrahim Yazdi, the leader of the banned liberal opposition Freedom Movement who returned recently from cancer treatment in the US, has been called before the revolutionary court several times.

Two of his lawyers have been dismissed. One of them was given a nine-month jail sentence and banned from working for 10 years.

All of this, of course, does not mean that the hardliners have scored a definitive victory of some sort - just that the old deadlock has set back in.

'Axis of evil'

Some reformists have called for dialogue with the US

The political climate has continued to be embittered by the issue of relations with America in the wake of President George W Bush's inclusion of Iran in his "axis of evil".

Some reformists, but not all - for there are divisions there, too - believe it is time to open a dialogue with Washington, lest Iran find itself on the receiving end of US attention.

The idea of dialogue has persisted despite several rulings from the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, against negotiations with the US.

The advocates of dialogue are now being dubbed "fifth-column mercenaries" by their right-wing critics.

Time running out

So there is no clear direction, but beneath the stagnation many reformists are starting to become dangerously frustrated at their lack of tangible achievement over the past five years.

Their time may be running out, with parliamentary elections less than two years away.

The reformists are acutely aware of that, and pressures are already mounting as that deadline approaches.