Iran's supreme leader moved on Wednesday to haul the Islamic republic out of one of its worst ever crises, ordering powerful conservatives to revise their massive blacklisting of reformists ahead of next month's parliamentary elections.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's blunt intervention came hot on the heels of a threat by reformist President Mohammad Khatami to lead a mass resignation of MPs and government ministers unless a hard-line political watchdog backed down.
"The Guardians Council has a good opportunity to review the cases with precision and conforming with the law," state media quoted Khamenei as telling members of the body seeking to disqualify thousands of candidates.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, said in the case of MPs who are currently sitting in parliament - 83 of whom had been barred from re-election - "if their aptitude was proved in the past, the principle is that they are still competent unless it can be proved otherwise."
He also told the Guardians Council not to go too far in its screening process and that "together with negative points, positive points should also be taken into account."
The body is a bastion of Iran's religious right and has the power to vet all legislation and candidates for public office. Khamenei directly or indirectly appoints all of its 12 members.
The supreme leader's intervention has been seen as crucial in resolving the bitter stand-off, which kicked-off on Sunday when the electoral vetting arm of the Council blacklisted nearly half of the 8,000 people hoping to stand for parliament on February 20.
Most barred from standing are reformists, among them some of the movement's most prominent figures, and the step immediately sparked accusations of vote-rigging. One top reformist MP, Mohsen Mirdamadi, likened the move to a "coup d'etat".
The Guardians Council is due to make a final ruling on the disqualification's at the end of the month, and a definitive list of candidates is due to be released around February 12.