It is five years since Saeed Hajjarian was shot in the head. Every day since then has been a long, hard struggle from coma and partial paralysis through physiotherapy to speech therapy and hours on a treadmill improving his strength and co-ordination.

"Of course the same kind of attack could happen in Iran today," he says. "At the top level, little serious work has been done for democracy, even if trends lower down - a growing middle-class, urbanisation, people organising themselves - have helped."