Khatami
Photo: AFP
Annan
Photo: AP
Former global leaders in Iran to support Khatami
Annan, several European ex-leaders meet in Tehran in what is seen as reformist effort
Iran's reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami is hosting former UN chief Kofi Annan and other high-level European dignitaries this week in a rare visit seen as the reformists' effort to push Khatami back into the spotlight ahead of Iran's crucial elections.
Khatami - a longtime strong opponent of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - has stepped up his criticism of the Iranian president in recent months. And he is under increasing pressure from reformists at home to challenge Ahmadinejad in presidential elections next June.
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Khatami's supporters have urged him to contest the balloting in hopes that a Khatami victory would get Iran out of international isolation.
But Khatami insists he has not yet decided whether to run against Ahmadinejad, a move that could hold both big promise but also big risks for reformists, who lost much credibility long ago and have been mostly overshadowed in recent years.
Khatami reacted angrily when asked whether the high-profile visitors at the conference reflected a backing for his possible bid for the presidency. "This conference has nothing to do with presidential elections," he said. "Don't undermine this conference by such speculations."
But the Iranian reformists were eager to interpret the presence of a dozen former world leaders as a gesture of global support for Khatami.
They are convinced it's Khatami's appeal as a moderate that brought former Irish president, Mary Robinson, and former prime ministers of Italy and France, Romano Prodi and Lionel Jospin to Tehran to attend the conference on religion which Khatami is hosting.
The European dignitaries reportedly had no plans to meet with Ahmadinejad while in Iran. Annan, however, did meet the Iranian president separately Monday afternoon.
Under Ahmadinejad, Iran has experienced international isolation, skyrocketing prices and even a US and Israeli threat of military strike over its refusal to halt the controversial uranium enrichment that the West fears masks a nuclear weapons pursuit.
Amid the turmoil, Khatami, despite his "has-been" image, is seen by many moderates and reformers as Iran's "savior" from the current predicament.
Support from reformists
The June vote is critical for Ahmadinejad, who was elected in 2005 on a populist agenda promising to improve the lives of ordinary Iranians but has since last year faced increasing criticism for his failure to meet that promise while splashing out with fiery, anti-US speeches.Eight months before the vote, Iran's reformists are adamant Khatami should run.
"Our homeland Iran is in danger. Khatami has to run in the upcoming elections to save Iran from catastrophe and destruction," said prominent reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh.
Tajzadeh, a former deputy interior minister, said that Iran under a continued Ahmadinejad leadership will turn into a new Iraq and Afghanistan. If Khatami is elected, it will "turn into a model for others to follow," he added.
"The current situation in Iran has made it difficult for Khatami to reject demands to run in the upcoming elections. His language also shows that he is thinking about it more seriously than before," Tajzadeh said.
Iran's former vice president, Majid Ansari, said the recent developments indicate Khatami is now more likely to challenge Ahmadinejad.
"It is now more likely that Khatami will run for president next year," Ansari said. Registration for the June 12 balloting will be held next April.
No comment from high-profile guests
Khatami's guests politely refused to comment on the issue of his candidacy, apparently unwilling to have the visit blasted by Ahmadinejad's camp as interference in Iran's internal affairs.Some of the other prominent names at the venue included former Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio, Sri Lankan ex-president Chandrika Kumaratunga, Sudan's former prime minister Sadeq al-Mahdi and former UNESCO director general Federico Mayor.
Khatami is hosting the two-day conference, which ends Tuesday, as the head of the International Institute of Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations. It explores religious and cultural concepts and rejects extremism.
Following the conference, Annan and several others among the visiting dignitaries will make a trip on Tuesday evening and Wednesday to Yazd, Khatami's birthplace in central Iran.
