His words were taken as a sign of a possible new flexibility from a so-called pragmatic faction keen to enlist Western support to rebuild Iran after its eight-year war with Iraq.

Now, like environmentalism, the animal protection movement appears to be split between pragmatic and idealistic factions.

In the rest of the country, about half of roughly 100 candidates who won seats in the first round were linked with the pro-Rafsanjani 'pragmatic' faction.

The radical caucus is home to many left-libertarians, who feel the pragmatic faction of the party is reminiscent of right-libertarianism.

The more modest goals of the Third Five-Year Plan (1981-85) were a compromise between ideological and pragmatic factions; they emphasized the development of agriculture and industry.

In recent weeks, for instance, a pragmatic faction within the White House has been arguing that in light of political opposition, the President should severely reduce his aid request for the Nicaraguan rebels.

Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d was the engineer of Judge Ginsburg's last-minute selection over another Federal judge, Anthony M. Kennedy, who was favored by the more pragmatic faction in the Administration.

After years of internal political struggle for control of Iran's Islamic revolution, the pragmatic faction led by President Hashemi Rafsanjani has been backed into a corner by resurgent hard-liners.

Political analysts say that Mr. Baker's position, as the leader of the Administration's pragmatic faction, has probably been strengthened by the judgeship and budget battles.

Whilst technically appointed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he is considered to be closer to more pragmatic conservative factions and during the 2005 presidential election, he was the campaign manager of Ali Larijani, the conservative candidate.