TEHRAN, Aug 11: With its live music and relaxed views about women's dress, the Ali Qapu restaurant in north Tehran bends a few of Iran's rigid Islamic rules, but not too many.

``I would like to ask ladies to adjust their headscarves and request diners not to clap with the music so that authorities will allow our good ambience to continue,'' a singer pleads before breaking into an old Iranian song.

But his words go unnoticed. Once the music starts so does the clapping, some by women whose make-up and clothes clearly overstep the Islamic Republic's rules requiring that women are modest and fully covered in public.

It's just one sign of the battle lines being drawn between Iranians, who expect a more relaxed life under the presidency of the moderate Mohammad Khatami and hard-line foes who want to impose even stricter rules.

With Khatami expected to name his cabinet this week, the moderates whose names have been raised as possible key ministers already have drawn criticism from hard-liners. Still, reports keep appearing that Khatami will choose progressive aides and ministers.

Iran Daily reported that Khatami had challenged Islamic tradition by appointing a woman, US-educated Massoumeh Ebtekar, as vice-president for environmental affairs.

Women in particular have been taking advantage of a more relaxed mood since Khatami's election by flaunting the Islamic Republic's dress code.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.