But in recent weeks, her television has been causing her problems: every so often, the picture drops out, giving way to streaks of interference or nothing at all coupled with the message "No or Bad Signal".

"They are sending those parasites again," she says with a sigh. "That was my favorite programme."

The Americans may not yet be landing on the beaches, but Elham's entertainment woes appear to be the result of a very real war for the hearts and minds of the Iranian public.

On one side are the Islamic republic's overseas-based detractors, and some 10 foreign Persian-language channels beaming in broadcasts aimed at making Iranians who own dishes dance away to music deemed to be decadent and question the ruling clerics.

Causing particular irritation is the Los Angeles-based National Iranian Television (NITV) with its campaign to convince Iranians -- many of whom are too young to know any different -- that life under the late shah, ousted in 1979, was much better.

And on the ground here fighting them are state bodies, who according to numerous press reports have established a string of hi-tech jamming facilities positioned in and around the sprawling Iranian capital, all designed to counter what the powers-that-be see as a "cultural invasion."

According to the local press, Iranian authorities have equipped themselves with transmitters capable of pumping microwave noise frequencies, or parasites, into the sky, thereby disrupting the viewing of those with dishes hidden on their rooftops.

In order to block such satellite broadcasts, jammers need to respond on the same extremely high frequencies, some of which are believed to be close to the microwave category.

But the merits of sending such signals from the ground -- and even from sites inside an urban area of some 12 million people -- are being questioned, especially given the health consequences of exposure to microwave frequencies.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), if the frequencies exist they could "induce heating in body tissues which may provoke various physiological and thermoregulatory responses, including a decreased ability to perform mental or physical tasks as body temperature increases."

"It may also affect the development of a fetus and birth defects. Induced heating can also affect male fertility and lead to the induction of eye opacities," the WHO's Dr Ali-Reza Mafi told AFP.

The jamming signals are also reportedly playing havoc with legitimate communications facilities, such as Internet services, the local telephone network and even state television.

A number of deputies in Iran's reformist-controlled parliament have called on President Mohammad Khatami to raise the issue of "frequency pollution" with the Supreme Council of National Security, Iran's top decision-making body of security issues.

"The president should ask these noise stations to coordinate with other related institutions, such as the health and telecommunications ministries, in order to prevent them causing problems for our citizens," Mohammed-Reza Ali Hosseini, an MP sitting on the parliament's telecommunications committee, told the student news agency ISNA.

He said he believed the "waves are coming from military compounds and institutions."

But despite the alarm, Iran's illegal dish owners are still suffering annoying disturbances to their evening viewing.

And even the ministry of post, telegraph and telephone (PTT) -- technically in charge of frequency space -- appears to be in the dark, even as it tries to give some reassurance over the public health fears.

"These noise stations have no authorisation from us," PTT Minister Ahmad Motamedi told the state news agency IRNA. "If such waves need to be emitted, they must be done so legally. But they are not cancerous and dangerous."

SPACE.WIRE