Iran's largest pro-reform daily, Yas-e No, carried a frontpage file photo of a smiling Nobel laureate sitting in her Tehran office, together with a string of accolades from top reformist officials.

In the three pages it dedicated to the news, the paper also carried a message of congratulations from other reformists and rights activists -- including jailed dissident Hashem Aghajari, who was put on death row for criticising the regime and had been tipped as a possible prize winner.

"This is a great success for activists and defenders of children's and women's rights. This is a matter of great pride for all Iranians," Mohammad Reza Khatami, brother of President Mohammad Khatami and leader of the main reformist party, told the paper.

The Etemad newspaper, also reformist, headlined that the prize was "A most important event for Iran" and also carried a frontpage picture of the prize winner, still largely unknown in her home country.

An editorial said Ebadi's win was "a prize for all Iranians". Unlike Yas-e No, the paper did not carry quotes from Ebadi's Paris press conference, in which she demanded the freeing of political prisoners.

None of the papers showed photos from her press conference in Paris, where she chose not to wear a headscarf and was seated next to exiled dissidents wanted back home.

For its part, the pro-reform Shargh newpaper also splashed the story across several pages, hailing Ebadi as "a courageous woman" -- both as a lawyer and a mother of two.

But it noted that the campaign still had a long way to go.

"In the last month, according to official statistics, there were 13 cases of child abuse, and also Afsaneh Noruzi had her death penalty confirmed," the paper said, referring to a woman convicted of killing a police officer she claimed was trying to rape her.

"Clearly, Ebadi has alot of work in front of her."

The conservative Hamshahri paper gave the story a brief frontpage mention with a report on page 30 largely focusing on the luke-warm reception for Ebadi's win from conservative leaders.

The Abrar newspaper only made a brief mention, but highlighted the 1.3 million dollar prize money. The centrist, right-leaning Enthekhab paper said only that "this award has hidden meanings, which need further analysis and investigation."

Keeping up its reputation as a favourite among hardliners, the Jomhuri Islami paper mentioned the prize, the prize money and then Ebadi's criminal record. The lawyer was once jailed as a result of her work.

"She used questions of human rights and children's rights to establish contacts with foreign organisations and act against the regime of the Islamic republic of Iran," the paper seethed.

Also furious was Kayhan, an evening paper and pillar of the religious right, who ran the headline: "The westerners gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Shirin Ebadi of Iran.

"One of the candidates for the prize was the Pope, but since he was against the illegitimate relations before marriage, abortion and homosexuality, he did not win," the paper said in an article pouring scorn on the prize and its winner.

State television, which is controlled by Iran's conservative camp, spoke volumes about the political divisiveness of Ebadi's win, making just a brief mention of the award at the tail end of a news programme several hours after it was announced on Friday.

Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a spokesman for a human rights body that Ebadi presides over here, noted that the less than one minute coverage given to her win contrasted with state television's "repeated showing of a news item showing a crow stuck in an aircraft engine."

Ebadi, a lawyer who had campaigned for women's and children's rights -- and stood up for dissidents and freedom of speech in the Islamic republic -- has earned the wrath of many hardliners, especially in the judiciary, for her views.

WAR.WIRE