The three so-called moderates have in recent weeks been more receptive to Mr. Cordovez's proposals than the fundamentalists.

"There has been talk of a proposal by so-called moderates, who say they favor negotiations," Mr. Ortega said.

Afterward, the senator told reporters that "these so-called Republican moderates are the ones who voted people like Tom DeLay into office."

The so-called moderates have mostly left the convention, forming a series of shadow organizations, each of which emerges with a larger letterhead and smaller numbers.

It's time these so-called moderates learned that they cannot hunt with the hounds and be counted with the foxes.

President Reagan has asserted that the arms sales were really a way to reach out to the so-called moderates in Iran.

"The so-called 'moderates' in our party had their chance and failed," Mr. Lonegan said.

Even the so-called moderates in Tehran are committed to this objective.

Some political analysts say hard-liners have ousted so-called moderates in every major reorganization of the rebels since they began fighting for independence in 1968.

A purge of so-called moderates who apparently favored rebuilding ties with the West followed as the 10-year-old islamic regime withdrew into its traditional isolationist stance.