Sayyid
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...
Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served as the fifth
president of Iran
The president of Iran ( fa, رئیسجمهور ایران, Rayis Jomhur-e Irān) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The president is the second highest-ranking official of Iran after the Supreme Leader.
The president i ...
from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's
Minister of Culture
A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...
from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critical of the government of subsequent President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), .
Little known internationally before becoming president, Khatami attracted attention during
his first election to the presidency when he received almost 70% of the vote. Khatami had run on a platform of liberalization and reform. During his election campaign, Khatami proposed the idea of
Dialogue Among Civilizations Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami introduced the idea of Dialogue Among Civilizations as a response to Samuel P. Huntington's theory of a Clash of Civilizations. The term was initially used by Austrian philosopher Hans Köchler who in 1972 ...
as a response to
Samuel P. Huntington's 1992 theory of a
Clash of Civilizations.
The United Nations later proclaimed the year 2001 as the United Nations' ''Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations'', on Khatami's suggestion.
During his two terms as president, Khatami advocated
freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
, tolerance and
civil society
Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.[European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...]
, and an economic policy that supported a
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
and foreign investment.
On 8 February 2009, Khatami announced that he would run in the
2009 presidential election but withdrew on 16 March in favour of his long-time friend and adviser, former Prime Minister of Iran
Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh ( fa, میرحسین موسوی خامنه, Mīr-Hoseyn Mūsavī Khāmené, ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian reformist politician, artist and architect who served as the forty-ninth and last Prime Minister of Ira ...
. The Iranian media are forbidden on the orders of Tehran's prosecutor from publishing pictures of Khatami, or quoting his words, on account of his support for the defeated reformist candidates in the disputed 2009 re-election of
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدینژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956), .
Early life and education
Khatami was born on 14 October 1943, in the small town of
Ardakan
Ardakan ( fa, اردكان, also romanized as Ardakān and Artagan) is the capital city of Ardakan County, Yazd Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 75,271 in 22,475 families.
Ardakan is the second major city of Yazd Province. ...
, in
Yazd Province. Khatami holds the title of
Sayyid
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...
, which means that he claims direct patrilineal descent from the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. He married
Zohreh Sadeghi
Zohreh Sadeghi ( fa, زهره صادقی; born 1950) is the wife of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and a niece of the Lebanese leader of the Amal Movement Musa al-Sadr.
Career
In 1999, together with wives of other government officia ...
, the daughter of a professor of religious law, and niece of
Musa al-Sadr
Musa Sadr al-Din al-Sadr ( ar, موسى صدر الدين الصدر; 4 June 1928 – disappeared 31 August 1978) was an Iranian-born Lebanese scholar and political leader who founded the Amal Movement.
Born in the Chaharmardan neighborhood o ...
, in 1974 (at the age of 31). The couple have two daughters and one son: Laila (born 1975), Narges (born 1980), and
Emad (born 1988).
![Mohammad Khatami in military service uniform](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Mohammad_Khatami_in_military_service_uniform.jpg)
Khatami's father, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khatami
:''(Not to be confused with Ruhollah Khomeini who was the leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution)''
Ruhollah Khatami (28 October 1906 – 27 October 1988) was a senior Iranian cleric in the city of Yazd.
In July 1982, he was appointed as prayer l ...
, was a high-ranking cleric and the
Khatib
In Islam, a khatib, khateeb or hatib ( ar, خطيب ''khaṭīb'') is a person who delivers the sermon (''khuṭbah'') (literally "narration"), during the Friday prayer and Eid prayers.
The ''khateeb'' is usually the prayer leader ('' imam''), ...
(the one who delivers the sermon for Friday prayers) in the city of
Yazd
Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Worl ...
in the early years of the
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
.
Khatami's brother,
Mohammad-Reza Khatami
Mohammad-Reza Khatami ( fa, محمدرضا خاتمی, born 1959) is an Iranian politician and nephrologist.
Early life and education
Khatami was born in Ardakan, Iran, in 1959. He is younger brother of former president Mohammad Khatami. Khatami ...
, was elected as Tehran's first member of parliament in the 6th term of parliament, during which he served as deputy speaker of the parliament. He also served as the secretary-general of
Islamic Iran Participation Front
The Islamic Iran Participation Front ( fa, جبهه مشارکت ایران اسلامی; ''Jebheye Mosharekate Iran-e Eslaami'') was a reformist political party in Iran. It was sometimes described as the most dominant member within the 2nd of Kho ...
(Iran's largest reformist party) for several years. Mohammad Reza is married to
Zahra Eshraghi
Zahra Eshraghi Khomeini ( fa, زهرا اشراقی, translit=''Zahrâ Eshrâqi'') (born 1964) is an Iranian activist and former government official who believes in feminism and human rights.
Early life and education
Eshraghi was born in 1964. Sh ...
, a feminist human rights activist and granddaughter of
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
(founder of the
Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
).
Khatami's other brother,
Ali Khatami
Ali Khatami is the younger brother of former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, and served as his chief of staff during his second term in office.
Khatami was born to Ruhollah Khatami, alongside older siblings Fatemeh Khatami and Mohammed Khatam ...
, a businessman with a master's degree in
Industrial Engineering
Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex process (engineering), processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, kno ...
from
Polytechnic University in Brooklyn
The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...
,
served as the President's Chief of Staff during President Khatami's second term in office, where he kept an unusually low profile.
Khatami's eldest sister, Fatemeh Khatami, was elected as the first representative of the people of
Ardakan
Ardakan ( fa, اردكان, also romanized as Ardakān and Artagan) is the capital city of Ardakan County, Yazd Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 75,271 in 22,475 families.
Ardakan is the second major city of Yazd Province. ...
(Khatami's hometown) in 1999
city council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
elections.
Mohammad Khatami is not related to
Ahmad Khatami, a hardline cleric and Provisional Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran.
![Mousavi - khatami 1985](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Mousavi_-_khatami_1985.jpg)
Mohammad Khatami received a
BA in
Western philosophy
Western philosophy encompasses the philosophical thought and work of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the pre-Socratics. The word ' ...
at
Isfahan University
The University of Isfahan (UI) (Persian: دانشگاه اصفهان Dāneshgāh-e Esfāhān) is a state-operated university located in Isfahan, Iran. It is ranked among the top 10 universities in Iran. The university is located on Azadi square ...
, but left academia while studying for a master's degree in educational sciences at
Tehran University
The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...
and went to
Qom to complete his previous studies in Islamic sciences. He studied there for seven years and completed the courses to the highest level,
Ijtihad
''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a le ...
. After that, he briefly settled in Germany to chair the
Islamic Centre in Hamburg from 1978 to 1980.
Before serving as president, Khatami was a representative in the
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
from 1980 to 1982, supervisor of the
Kayhan Institute, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance (1982–1986), and then for a second term from 1989 to 24 May 1992 (when he resigned), the head of the
National Library of Iran
The National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) or National Library of the Islamic Republic of Iran is located in Tehran, Iran, with twelve branches across the country. The NLAI is an educational, research, scientific, and service institute aut ...
from 1992 to 1997, and a member of the
Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution. He is a member and chairman of the Central Council of the
Association of Combatant Clerics
The Association of Combatant Clerics ( fa, مجمع روحانیون مبارز, ''Majma'-e rowhāniyūn-e mobārez'') is an Iranian reformist clerical political party. It is regarded as a left-wing party within the Iranian political spectrum.
Hi ...
. Besides his native language
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, Khatami speaks Arabic, English, and German.
Presidency (1997–2005)
![Flickr - World Economic Forum - Mohammad Khatami - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Flickr_-_World_Economic_Forum_-_Mohammad_Khatami_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_Davos_2004.jpg)
Running on a reform agenda, Khatami was elected president on 23 May 1997, in what many have described as a remarkable election. Voter turnout was nearly 80%. Despite limited television airtime, most of which went to the conservative Speaker of Parliament and favored candidate
Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri
Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri ( fa, علیاکبر ناطقنوری; sometimes spelt Nategh-Nouri, born 6 October 1944) is an Iranian politician, who served as the Iranian parliament, Chairman of the Parliament of Iran from 1992 to 2000. He was al ...
, Khatami received 70 percent of the vote. "Even in Qom, the center of theological training in Iran and a conservative stronghold, 70% of voters cast their ballots for Khatami."
He was re-elected on 8 June 2001 for a second term and stepped down on 3 August 2005 after serving his maximum two consecutive terms under the
Islamic Republic's constitution.
Khatami supporters have been described as a "coalition of strange bedfellows, including traditional leftists business leaders who wanted the state to open up the economy and allow more foreign investment" and "younger voters".
Khatami’s ascendancy was a prelude to a dynamic reform thrust that injected hope into Iranian society, whipped up a dormant nation after eight years of war with Iraq in the 1980s and the costly post-conflict reconstruction, and incorporated terms in the political lexicon of young Iranians that were not previously embedded in the national discourse, nor did they count as priorities for the majority of the people.
The day of his election, 2 Khordad, 1376, in the
Iranian calendar
The Iranian calendars or Iranian chronology ( fa, گاهشماری ایرانی, ) are a succession of calendars invented or used for over two millennia in Iran, also known as Persia. One of the longest chronological records in human history, ...
, is regarded as the starting date of "reforms" in Iran. His followers are therefore usually known as the "
2nd of Khordad Movement
The Reformists ( fa, اصلاحطلبان, Eslâh-Talabân) are a political faction in Iran. Iran's "reform era" is sometimes said to have lasted from 1997 to 2005—the length of President Mohammad Khatami's two terms in office. The C ...
".
Khatami is regarded as Iran's first reformist president, since the focus of his campaign was on the rule of law, democracy and the inclusion of all Iranians in the political decision-making process. However, his policies of reform led to repeated clashes with the hardline and conservative Islamists in the Iranian government, who control powerful governmental organizations like the
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council, (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, fa, شورای نگهبان, Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence i ...
, whose members are appointed by the Supreme Leader. Khatami lost most of those clashes, and by the end of his presidency many of his followers had grown disillusioned with him.
As President, according to the Iranian political system, Khatami was outranked by the
Supreme Leader. Thus, Khatami had no legal authority over key state institutions such as the armed forces, the police, the army, the revolutionary guards, the state radio and television, and the prisons. (See
Politics of Iran
The politics of Iran takes place in the framework of an Islamic theocracy which was formed following the overthrow of Iran's millennia-long monarchy by the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution.
Iran's system of government (''nezam'') has been de ...
).
Khatami presented the so-called "twin bills" to the parliament during his term in office, these two pieces of proposed legislation would have introduced small but key changes to the national election laws of Iran and also presented a clear definition of the president's power to prevent constitutional violations by state institutions. Khatami himself described the "twin bills" as the key to the progress of reforms in Iran. The bills were approved by the parliament but were eventually vetoed by the Guardian Council.
Generality
Press freedom, civil society, women’s rights, religious tolerance, dialogue and political development were concepts that constituted the core of Khatami’s ideology, who as a cleric faced immeasurable pressure on behalf of the orthodox seminarians over the changes he was advocating. He inducted his Westward charm offensive by engaging the European Union, and became the first Iranian president to travel to
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. From the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
in Scotland to the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
in Davos and the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
headquarters in Paris, he was frequently solicited to give talks at reputed venues to articulate the new Iranian vision and tell the world how he wanted to portray his people’s aspirations.
Economic policy
Khatami's economic policies followed the previous government's commitment to industrialization. At a
macro-economic level, Khatami continued the liberal policies that Rafsanjani had embarked on in the state's first five-year economic development plan (1990–1995). On 10 April 2005, Khatami cited economic development, large-scale operations of the private sector in the country's economic arena and 6% economic growth as among the achievements of his government. He allocated $5 billion to the private sector for promoting the economy, adding that the value of contracts signed in this regard has reached $10 billion.
A year into his first term as president of Iran, Khatami acknowledged Iran's economic challenges, stating that the economy was, "chronically ill...and it will continue to be so unless there is fundamental restructuring".
For much of his first term, Khatami saw through the implementation of Iran's second five-year development plan. On 15 September 1999, Khatami presented a new five-year plan to the Majlis. Aimed at the period from 2000 to 2004, the plan called for
economic reconstruction
Economic reconstruction is a process for creating a proactive vision of economic change. The most basic idea is that problems in the economy, such as deindustrialization, environmental decay, outsourcing, industrial incompetence, poverty and ad ...
in a broader context of social and political development. The specific economic reforms included "an ambitious program to privatize several major industries ... the creation of 750,000 new jobs per year, average annual real GDP growth of six percent over the period, reduction in
subsidies
A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
for basic commodities...plus a wide range of fiscal and structural reforms". Unemployment remained a major problem, with Khatami's five-year plan lagging behind in job creation. Only 300,000 new jobs were created in the first year of the plan, well short of the 750,000 that the plan called for. The 2004
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
report on Iran concludes that "after 24 years marked by internal post-revolutionary strife, international isolation, and deep economic volatility, Iran is slowly emerging from a long period of uncertainty and instability".
At the
macroeconomic
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
level, real GDP growth rose from 2.4% in 1997 to 5.9% in 2000. Unemployment was reduced from 16.2% of the labor force to less than 14%. The consumer price index fell to less than 13% from more than 17%. Both public and private investments increased in the energy sector, the building industry, and other sectors of the country's industrial base. The country's external debt was cut from $12.1 billion to $7.9 billion, its lowest level since the Iran-
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
cease-fire. The
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
granted $232 million for health and sewage projects after a hiatus of about seven years. The government, for the first time since the 1979 wholesale financial nationalization, authorized the establishment of two private banks and one private insurance company. The
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...
lowered the risk factor for doing business in Iran to four from six (on a scale of seven).
![Javier Solana and Mohammad Khatami - Tehran - July 29, 2002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Javier_Solana_and_Mohammad_Khatami_-_Tehran_-_July_29%2C_2002.png)
The government's own figures put the number of people under the absolute poverty line in 2001 at 15.5% of the total population – down from 18% in 1997, and those under relative poverty at 25%, thus classifying some 40% of the population as poor. Private estimates indicate higher figures.
Among 155 countries in a 2001 world survey, Iran under Khatami was 150th in terms of openness to the global economy. On the United Nations' Human Development scale, Iran ranked 90th out of 162 countries, only slightly better than its previous position at 97 out of 175 countries four years earlier. The overall risk of doing business in Iran improved only marginally from "D" to "C".
One of his economic strategy was on the basis of absorbing foreign and domestic capital resources for privatization of the economy. Therefore, in 2001, the organization of privatization established. Also the government encourages people to buy shares in the private companies by providing incentives. Also
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
succeeded to convince the World Bank to approve loans totaling 432 billion dollar to the country.
Foreign policy
![Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan 23-24 April 2002-12](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Vladimir_Putin_in_Turkmenistan_23-24_April_2002-12.jpg)
During Khatami's presidency, Iran's foreign policy began a process of moving from confrontation to conciliation. In Khatami's notion of foreign policy, there was no "
clash of civilizations", he favoured instead a "
Dialogue Among Civilizations Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami introduced the idea of Dialogue Among Civilizations as a response to Samuel P. Huntington's theory of a Clash of Civilizations. The term was initially used by Austrian philosopher Hans Köchler who in 1972 ...
". Relations with the US remained marred by mutual suspicion and distrust, but during Khatami's two terms, Tehran increasingly made efforts to play a greater role in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
region and beyond.
As President, Khatami met with many influential figures including
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
,
Koichiro Matsuura
Kōichirō, Koichiro, Kouichirou or Kohichiroh is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible Writings
*晃一郎, "clear, one, son"
*光一郎, "light, one, son"
*弘一郎, "vast, one, son"
*鴻一郎, "prosperous, one, son"
*紘一郎, "large, on ...
,
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
,
Johannes Rau
Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician (SPD). He was the president of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004 and the minister president of North Rhine-Westphalia from 20 September 1978 to 9 June 1998. In the ...
,
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
,
Abdulaziz Bouteflika,
Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...
and
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
. In 2003, Khatami refused to meet militant Iraqi cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr
Muqtada al-Sadr ( ar, مقتدى الصدر, Muqtadā aṣ-Ṣadr; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi politician and militia leader. He is the leader of the Sadrist Movement and the leader of the Peace Companies, a successor to the militia he had ...
. However, Khatami attended
Hafez al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...
's funeral in 2000 and told new Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...
that "the Iranian government and people would stand by and support him".
On 8 August 1998, the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
massacred 4,000 Shias in the town of
Mazar-i-Sharif
, official_name =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia
, pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif
, pushpin ...
, Afghanistan. It also attacked and killed 11 Iranian diplomats with an Iranian journalist among them. The rest of the diplomats were taken hostage.
Ayatollah Khamenei
Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنهای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
ordered the amassing of troops near the Iran Afghanistan border to enter Afghanistan and fight the Taliban. Over 70,000 Iranian troops were placed along the borders of Afghanistan. Khatami halted the invasion and looked to the UN for help. Soon he was placed in talks. Later Iran entered negotiations with the Taliban, the diplomats were released. Khatami and his advisers had managed to keep Iran from entering war with the Taliban.
After the
2003 earthquake in
Bam, the Iranian government rebuffed Israel's offer of assistance. On 8 April 2005, Khatami sat near Iranian-born Israeli President
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav ( he, מֹשֶׁה קַצָּב; born 5 December 1945) is an Israeli former politician who was the List of Presidents of Israel, eighth President of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was also a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset ...
during the
funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
because of alphabetical order. Later, Katsav shook hands and spoke with Khatami. Katsav himself is in origin an
Iranian Jew
Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor s ...
, and from a part of Iran close to Khatami's home; he stated that they had spoken about their home province. That would make this incident the first official political contact between Iran and Israel since diplomatic ties were severed in 1979.
However, after he returned to Iran, Khatami was subject to harsh criticism from conservatives for having "recognised" Israel by speaking to its president. Subsequently, the country's state-run media reported that Khatami strongly denied shaking hands and chatting with Katsav.
In 2003, Iran approached the United States with proposals to negotiate all outstanding issues including the nuclear issue and a two-state settlement for Israel and the
Palestinians
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
.
In 2006, and as an ex-president, he became the highest-ranking Iranian politician to visit the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, excluding annual diplomatic trips of chief executives to the UN headquarters in New York. He gave a speech at the Washington National Cathedral and continued his US tour by addressing Harvard University, Georgetown University and the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
.
Currency crisis
![Mohammad Khatami- Opening World Wrestling Championships - May 4, 2002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Mohammad_Khatami-_Opening_World_Wrestling_Championships_-_May_4%2C_2002.jpg)
From 1995 to 2005, Khatami's administration successfully reduced the rate of fall in the value of the
Iranian rial
The rial ( fa, ریال ایران, riyâl-è Irân; sign: ﷼; abbreviation: Rl (singular) and Rls (plural) or IR in Latin; ISO code: IRR) is the official currency of Iran.
There is no official symbol for the currency but the Iranian standar ...
bettering even the record of
Mousavi. Nevertheless, the currency continued to fall from 2,046 to 9,005 to the U.S. dollar during his term as president.
Cultural
Khatami moderate policies also differed sharply from those of his radical opponents, who sought stricter Islamic rule. Thus, the moderate Khatami all-inclusive and pluralistic message posed a stark contrast to the reactionary stances of the earlier decades of the revolution. He represented hope for the masses who desired change that differed in nature from what they had experienced in 1979, and yet a change that preserved Iran’s Islamic republican system. In the first years of her presidency, relative freedom of the press was formed in the country and for the first time after the summer of 1360, some opposition forces were able to print publications or publish articles criticizing the performance of high-ranking officials. During this period, the
Association of Iranian Journalists
The Association of Iranian Journalists ( fa, انجمن صنفی روزنامهنگاران ایران) is a professional organization in Iran that serves to "protect and safeguard the legal and professional rights of Iranian journalists." The ...
, the national union of journalists in Iran was established in October 1376 after Mohammad Khatami took office.
National Library and Archive of Iran
The National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) or National Library of the Islamic Republic of Iran is located in Tehran, Iran, with twelve branches across the country. The NLAI is an educational, research, scientific, and service institute a ...
It was completed with Khatami's follow-up. and banned books were allowed to be printed as
Kelidar.
Bahram Beyzai
Bahrām Beyzāêi (also spelt Beizāi, Beyzāêi, fa, بهرام بیضائی; born 26 December 1938) is an Iranian playwright, theatre director, screenwriter, film editor, and '' ostād'' ("master") of Persian letters, arts and Iranian studie ...
,
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami ( fa, عباس کیارستمی ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of ...
They did many activities during this period and the country's cinema space became more open. With a brief glance at this period, it can be seen that most filmmakers turned their attention to making films with social themes. Iran Music House and Music festival of Iran's regions institutes it was founded in this period.
Iran's National Orchestra
Iran's National Orchestra ( fa, ارکستر ملی ایران) is a national orchestra of Iran, which was founded in 1998 under the conduction of Farhad Fakhreddini.
The orchestra had been formed by Persian traditional instruments, strings and ...
founded in 1998 under the conduction of
Farhad Fakhreddini
Farhad Fakhreddini ( fa, فرهاد فخرالدینی; born 11 March 1938 in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan) is a renowned Iranian composer, conductor and founder of Iran’s National Orchestra.
He led Iran's Radio and Television Orchestra from 19 ...
.
Khatami and Iran's 2004 parliamentary election
![Moeen-Khatami](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Moeen-Khatami.jpg)
In February 2004,
Parliament elections, the
Guardian Council
The Guardian Council, (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, fa, شورای نگهبان, Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence i ...
banned thousands of candidates, including most of the reformist members of the parliament and all the candidates of the
Islamic Iran Participation Front
The Islamic Iran Participation Front ( fa, جبهه مشارکت ایران اسلامی; ''Jebheye Mosharekate Iran-e Eslaami'') was a reformist political party in Iran. It was sometimes described as the most dominant member within the 2nd of Kho ...
party from running. This led to a win by the conservatives of at least 70% of the seats. Approximately 60% of the eligible voting population participated in the elections.
Khatami recalled his strong opposition against holding an election his government saw as unfair and not free. He also narrated the story of his visit to the Supreme Leader, Khamenei, together with the Parliament's spokesman (considered the head of the legislature) and a list of conditions they had handed him before they could hold the elections. The list, he said, was then passed on to the Guardian Council, the legal supervisor and major obstacle to holding free and competitive elections in recent years. The members of the Guardian Council are appointed directly by the Supreme Leader and were considered to be applying his will. "But", Khatami said, "the Guardian Council kept neither the Supreme Leader's nor its own word
..and we were faced with a situation in which we had to choose between holding the election or risking huge unrest
..and so damaging the regime". At this point, student protesters repeatedly chanted the slogan "Jannati is the nation's enemy", referring to the chairman of the Guardian Council. Khatami replied, "If you are the representative of the nation, then we are the nation's enemy". However, after a clarification by students stating that "Jannati, not Khatami", he took advantage of the opportunity to claim a high degree of freedom in Iran.
When the Guardian Council announced the final list of candidates on 30 January 125 reformist members of parliament declared that they would
boycott the election and resign their seats, and the Reformist interior minister declared that the election would not be held on the scheduled date, 20 February. However, Khatami then announced that the election would be held on time, and he rejected the resignations of his cabinet ministers and provincial governors. These actions paved the way for the election to be held and signaled a split between the radical and moderate wings of the reformist movement.
Cultural and political image
Dialogue Among Civilizations
![Khatami, Eid-e Ghadir](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Khatami%2C_Eid-e_Ghadir.jpg)
Following earlier works by the philosopher
Dariush Shayegan
Dariush Shayegan ( fa, داریوش شایگان; 24 January 1935 – 22 March 2018) was one of the most consequential thinkers of contemporary Iran and the Near East.
Life and career
He was born in Tabriz from an Shia Iranian Azeri father ...
, in early 1997, during his presidential campaign, Khatami introduced the theory of Dialogue Among Civilizations as a response to
Samuel P. Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" theory. He introduced this concept in the United Nations in 1998.
Consequently, on 4 November 1998 the UN adopted a resolution proclaiming the year 2001 as the United Nations' ''Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations'', as per Khatami's suggestion.
Pleading for the moralization of politics, Khatami argued that "the political translation of dialogue among civilizations would consist in arguing that culture, morality, and art must prevail on politics". President Khatami's call for a dialogue among civilizations elicited a published reply from an American author, Anthony J. Dennis, who served as the originator, contributor, and editor of an historic and unprecedented collection of letters addressing all facets of Islamic-Western and U.S.–Iranian relations entitled ''Letters to Khatami: A Reply To The Iranian President's Call For A Dialogue Among Civilizations'' which was published in the U.S. by Wyndham Hall Press in July 2001. To date, this book is the only published reply Khatami has ever received from the West.
Culture
Khatami believes that the modern world in which we live is such that Iranian youth are confronted with new ideas and is receptive of foreign habits. He also believes that the limitation on youth leads to separation of them from the regime and calls them into Satanic cultures. He predicted that even worse, the youth will learn and accept the MTV culture. This fact leads to secularization.
Cinema
In terms of Islamic values, Mohammad Khatami encouraged film makers to extend the notions such as self-sacrifice, martyrdom, and revolutionary patience. We could see such a notion in films in which most of those expression explained. When Khatami was the minister of culture, he believed that cinema was not limited to the mosque and it is necessary to pay attention to entertaining aspects of cinema and not limiting it to religious aspect.
Khatami as a scholar
![Mousavi - khatami 1985](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Mousavi_-_khatami_1985.jpg)
Khatami's main research field is
political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...
. One of Khatami's academic mentors was
Javad Tabatabaei
Seyyed Javad Tabatabai ( fa, سید جواد طباطبایی; born 14 December 1945 in Tabriz, Iran) is an Iranian philosopher and political scientist. He was Professor and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University o ...
, an Iranian political philosopher. Later on Khatami became a University lecturer at Tarbiat Modarres University, where he taught political philosophy. Khatami also published a book on political philosophy in 1999. The ground he covers is the same as that covered by Javad Tabatabaei: The Platonizing adaptation of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
political philosophy by
Farabi
Abu Nasr Muhammad Al-Farabi ( fa, ابونصر محمد فارابی), ( ar, أبو نصر محمد الفارابي), known in the West as Alpharabius; (c. 872 – between 14 December, 950 and 12 January, 951)PDF version was a renowned early Isla ...
(died 950), its synthesis of the "eternal wisdom" of Persian statecraft by Abu'l-Hasan Amiri (died 991) and Mushkuya Razi (died 1030), the juristic theories of al-Mawardi and Ghazali, and Nizam al-Mulk's treatise on statecraft. He ends with a discussion of the revival of political philosophy in
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
in the second half of the 17th century.
Further, Khatami shares with Tabatabaei the idea of the "decline" of Muslim political thought beginning at the very outset, after Farabi.
Like Tabatabaei, Khatami brings in the sharply contrasting
Aristotelian view of politics to highlight the shortcomings of Muslim political thought. Khatami has also lectured on the decline in Muslim political thought in terms of the transition from political philosophy to royal policy (siyasat-i shahi) and its imputation to the prevalence of "forceful domination" (''taghallub'') in Islamic history.
In his "Letter for Tomorrow", he wrote:
Post-presidential career
![Flickr - World Economic Forum - Mohammad Khatami, Klaus Schwab - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2004 (Cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Flickr_-_World_Economic_Forum_-_Mohammad_Khatami%2C_Klaus_Schwab_-_World_Economic_Forum_Annual_Meeting_Davos_2004_%28Cropped%29.jpg)
After his presidency, Khatami founded two NGOs which he currently heads:
* International Institute for Dialogue among Cultures & Civilizations, ( fa, موسسه بین المللی گفتگوی فرهنگها و تمدنها). This institute is a private (non-governmental) institute that was founded by Khatami after the end of his presidency and it is not to be confused with a center with a similar name operated by the foreign ministry of Iran. The European branch of Khatami's institute is headquartered in Geneva and has been registered as Foundation for Dialogue among Civilizations.
*
Baran Foundation. BARAN meaning "rain" is an acronym in Persian for "''Foundation for Freedom, Growth and Development of Iran''" ( fa, بنیاد آزادی، رشد و آبادانی ایران – باران). This is also a private (non-governmental) institute founded by Khatami after the end of his presidency (registration announced on 9 September 2005) and a group of his former colleagues during his presidency. This institute is focused on domestic rather than international activities.
Notable events in Khatami's career after his presidency include:
* On 2 September 2005, the then United Nations
Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder ...
appointed Mohammad Khatami as a member of the
Alliance of Civilizations
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is an initiative that attempts to "galvanize international action against extremism" through the forging of international, intercultural dialogue, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, interre ...
.
* On 28 September 2005, Khatami retired after 29 years of service in the government.
* On 14 November 2005, Mohammad Khatami urged all religious leaders to fight for the abolishment of
atomic and
chemical weapon
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
s.
* On 30 January 2006, Mohammad Khatami officially inaugurated the office of the "International Institute of Dialogue Among Civilizations", an NGO with offices in Iran and Europe that he will be heading, after his retirement from the government.
* On 15 February 2006, during a press interview Mohammad Khatami announced the formal registration of the European office of his Institute for Dialogue among Civilizations in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.
* On 28 February 2006, while attending a conference of the
Alliance of Civilizations
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) is an initiative that attempts to "galvanize international action against extremism" through the forging of international, intercultural dialogue, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, interre ...
at
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
, he stated that "The Holocaust is a historical fact." However, he added that Israel has "made a bad use of this historic fact with the persecution of the Palestinian people."
* On 7 September 2006, during a visit to
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, Mohammad Khatami called for dialogue between the United States and Iran.
*On 24–28 January 2007, Mohammad Khatami attended the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in
Davos
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch
, twintowns =
}
Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...
, Switzerland. German Chancellor
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
, then British Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
, former U.S. President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, then U.S. Senator
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, former U.S. Vice President
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
, then Vice President
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
, and former U.S. Secretaries of State
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...
and
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
were among those attending. Khatami and then U.S. Senator
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
have expressed similar opinions and shared words with each other in the World Economic Forum in Davos.
*In October 2009, the award committee of the Global Dialogue Prize declared Khatami and Iranian cultural theorist
Dariush Shayegan
Dariush Shayegan ( fa, داریوش شایگان; 24 January 1935 – 22 March 2018) was one of the most consequential thinkers of contemporary Iran and the Near East.
Life and career
He was born in Tabriz from an Shia Iranian Azeri father ...
as joint winners of the inaugural award, "for their work in developing and promoting the concept of a 'dialogue among cultures and civilizations' as new paradigm of cultural subjectivity and as new paradigm of international relations". The Global Dialogue Prize is one of the world's most significant recognitions for research in the Humanities, honouring "excellence in research and research communication on the conditions and content of a global intercultural dialogue on values". In January 2010, Mohammad Khatami stated that "he was not in the position to accept the award", and the prize was given to Dariush Shayegan alone.
The Man with the Chocolate Robe
On 22 December 2005, a few months after the end of Khatami's presidency, the monthly magazine ''
Chelcheragh'', along with a group of young Iranian artists and activists, organized a ceremony in Khatami's honor. The ceremony was held on
Yalda night at Tehran's
Bahman Farhangsara Hall. The ceremony, titled "
A Night with The Man with the Chocolate Robe" by the organizers, was widely attended by teenagers and younger adults. One of the presenters and organizers of the ceremony was
Pegah Ahangarani
Pegah Ahangarani ( fa, پگاه آهنگرانی; born 24 July 1984) is an Iranian actress and director. She has received various accolades, including a Crystal Simorgh, a Hafez Award and an Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Award.
...
, a popular young Iranian actress. The event did not get a lot of advance publicity, but it drew a huge amount of attention afterwards. In addition to formal reports on the event by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
the term "مردی با عبای شکلاتی" ("The Man with the Chocolate Robe" in Persian) shows thousands of results of mainly young Iranians' blogs mentioning the event. It was arguably the first time in the history of Iran that an event in such fashion was held in honor of a head of government. Some weblog reports of the evening described the general atmosphere of the event as "similar to a concert!", and some reported that "Khatami was treated like a pop star" among the youth and teenagers in attendance during the ceremony. Many bloggers also accused him of falling short of his promises of a safer, more democratic Iran.
In October 2008, Khatami organized an international conference on the position of religion in the modern world. Former UN secretary-general
as well as several other scholars were among the invited speakers of the conference.
The event was followed by a celebration of the historical city of
, one of the most famous cities in Persian history and Khatami's birthplace. Khatami also announced that he is about to launch a television program to promote intercultural dialogue.
. In December 2008, 194 alumni of
wrote a letter to him and asked him to run against Ahmadinejad "to save the nation". On 8 February 2009, he announced his candidacy at a meeting of pro-reform politicians.
On 16 March 2009, Khatami officially announced he would drop out of the presidential race to endorse another reformist candidate
who Khatami claimed would stand a better chance against Iran's conservative establishment to offer true change and reform.
, Khatami was described as working as a political "insider," drawing up a "list of preconditions" to present to the government "for the reformists' participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections", that would be seen as reasonable by the Iranian public but intolerable by the government. This was seen by some (
) as "astute" and proving "the system could not take even basic steps required for living up to its own democratic conservatives" (
). In response to the conditions, ''
'' newspaper condemned Khatami as "a spy and traitor" and called for his execution.
A few months before presidential election which was held in June 2013, several reformist groups of Iran invited Khatami to attend in competition. The reformists also sent a letter to the
in December 2012, regarding the participation of Khatami at the upcoming presidential election. Member of the traditional-conservative
, Asadullah Badamchyan said that in their letter, the reformists asked the Supreme Leader to supervise the allowance of Khatami to participate in the upcoming election. Former
may support Khatami in presidential election".
Khatami himself said that he still waits for the positive changes in the country, and will reveal his decision when the time is suitable. On 11 June 2013, Khatami together with council of reformists backed moderate
quit the race when Khatami advised him that it "would not be wise" for him to stay in the race for the June 2013 elections.
Khatami's two terms as president were regarded by some people as unsuccessful or not fully successful in achieving their goals of making Iran freer and more democratic,
and he has been criticized by conservatives, reformers, and opposition groups for various policies and viewpoints.
In a 47-page "
", Khatami said his government had stood for noble principles but had made mistakes and faced obstruction by hardline elements in the clerical establishment.
, Arabic, and English:
Books in Persian
* ''Fear of the Wave'' (بیم موج)
* ''From the World of a city to the city of the World'' (از دنیای شهر تا شهر دنیا)
* ''Faith and Thought Trapped by Despotism'' (آیین و اندیشه در دام خودکامگی)
* ''Democracy'' (مردم سالاری)
* ''Dialogue Among Civilizations'' (گفتگوی تمدنها)
* ''
'' (نامه ای برای فردا)
* ''Islam, The Clergy, and The Islamic Revolution'' (اسلام، روحانیت و انقلاب اسلامی)
* ''Political Development, Economic Development, and Security'' (توسعه سیاسی، توسعه اقتصادی و امنیت)
* ''Women and the Youth'' (زنان و جوانان)
* ''Political Parties and the Councils'' (احزاب و شوراها)
* ''Reviving Inherent Religious Truths'' (احیاگر حقیقت دین)
Books in English
* ''Islam, Liberty and Development''
(مدينة السياسة)
A full list of his publications is available at his official personal web site (see below).
* The special medal of Spain's Congress of Deputies and Senate, Key to Madrid
* Honorary PhD,
* Pakistan's highest civilian honour
* Plaque of honor and medal of distinction by the ''International Federation for Parent Education''
* Honorary doctorate from
* Address of Mohammad Khatami at Annual Meeting of ''World Economic Forum'', Davos, 21 January 2004, Chaired by
, 26 min 37 sec,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatami, Mohammad