As the ultra-conservative Tehran mayor prepares for office, the landslide election victory of outgoing reformist President Mohammad Khatami in 1997 that spawned hopes of radical reform is but a misty and very remote memory.

In the halcyon early years of Khatami's eight-years in office, reformers were able to pack key ministries, municipalities, parliament and provincial governments, boldly declaring they could forge major change in the Islamic republic.

But they were working against major barriers. Hardliners have always had firm control of the unelected institutions that act as the first defences of the Islamic republic, such as the powerful Guardians Council, the courts, the Revolutionary Guards and state media.

At the top of the pyramid stands supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose overwhelming powers the religious right-wing has protected.

In 2004, conservatives won back control of the previously reformist parliament in legislative elections that saw a record low turnout, after the Guardians Council disqualified thousands of liberal candidates in pre-vote vetting.

And now they have seized the one prize that still eluded them -- Iran's presidency.

"The reformists have lost the initiative. They now have to adjust their moves according to conservatives, who have proven to be extremely hard on criticism," said reformist journalist Omid Memarian.

"The conservatives will restrict the press and critics just as they do now but they will become more assertive, stronger and more obvious," he added.

Ministers holding key portfolios such as oil, interior and culture will be on their way out. The long faces of the interior ministry officials glumly reading out results to journalists early Saturday morning told their own story.