TEHRAN, April 18: The deputy head of Iran's parliament, reformist deputy Behzad Nabazi, resigned on Sunday with an angry parting shot against the most senior figures in the regime.

Nabavi is one of scores of reformists in the Majlis who quit after the February 20 elections, won by conservatives after most pro-reform candidates were barred from standing. But under parliamentary procedure, each has to have his or her resignation approved by vote.

So far four have done so in a procedure that has taken up most of parliament's time in the weeks before the conservative mandate begins in late May.

"Some think that our resignations are the end of the reforms, but this is not the case," Nabavi said. "Our problems are not with reforming the constitution, but with the real power structure, and without any changes to it nothing can be solved by reforms to the constitution," he added, referring to top personalities in the 25-year-old clerical regime.

Nabavi's resignation speech also included him posing some harsh questions to the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, despite the real risk of a backlash from the hardline judiciary. -AFP