Tehran hypermarket opens _ without Carrefour name

Tehran's shoppers are packing the wide, well-lit aisles of the Iranian capital's first western-style hypermarket, more than two years after France's Carrefour SA unveiled plans for a mammoth retail emporium here.

But the store, whose logo, broad selection and two-story parking garage would be familiar to Carrefour shoppers anywhere, opened last month under a different name - Hyperstar - and the French company says it is no longer involved.

The change, and Carrefour's reluctance to talk about it, highlights the difficulties that western companies face as they seek to tap into demand by Iran's booming middle class amid deteriorating relations between the West and the Islamic regime.