Perhaps no one better represents the great potential and also perils that face the reformers in Iran than Seyyed Mohammad Khatami. Khatami reached the highest elected position in the government when he became President in 1997. Yet many criticized his inability to bring about real change to the system and for allowing the 1999 student revolt to be brutally crushed. He has emerged during the recent unrest as a strong figure against the regime and he is still very popular within the opposition movement in Iran.
Khatami's father was an Ayatollah and he was surrounded by Islam from a very early age. Yet he was also interested in Western philosophy and studied the topic at Isfahan university. Khatami went on to become a cleric and studied in the Iranian holy city of Qom. Even with this traditional clerical training, Khatami would travel to Germany where he would chair the Hamburg Islamic Center before returning to Iran during the Revolution. Perhaps it is this greater world view that has led Khatami to advocate for a more progressive vision of Islam and a diaologue between civilizations instead of a clash of civilizations.
After the Revolution, Khatami held numerous different positions in the new government from being a member of parliament to being Minister of Culture in the 1980s and early 1990s. Khatami was relatively unknown before his run for President allowing him to fly under the radar of the regime. His election in 1997 in a free election was a very important moment in the history of the Islamic Republic because it gave the reformists their greatest success in chaning the regime from within. Khatami was elected with 70% of the vote in an election which showed the widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and there was great hope that Khatami could change the system for the better.
During his presidency, there was greater female participation in the government with a female Vice-President and greater reformists being appointed to key government positions. Yet even with some achievements, his presidency was always marred with conflict with the upper echelon of the regime that held much of the power. In particular, the Supreme Leader and the Council of Experts would have greater authority to run the country than Khatami. This was apparent in 1999 when students began protesting against the regime and there was a brutal crackdown that led to the imprisonment of many reformists. Khatami took heavy criticism for not standing up to the others in the regime and for allowing them to do whatever they wanted.
The parliamentry elections of 2000 gave the reformists a record majority in the parliament and Khatami easily won re-election in the presidential election of 2001. Yet with all these gains based on the will of the people of Iran, the reformists had a difficult time pushing ahead with their agenda. In fact, the hardliners were able to push tough censorship legislation during this time that further undermined confidence in the possibility of real reform.
Many reformists candidates were barred from running in the 2004 parliamentary elections to the point that the election no longer had any legitimacy. Many reformists boycotted the elections, but Khatami was not willing to try to stop the elections and the hardliners gained the majority. Unable to run for re-election in 2005 due to term limits, Khatami left office with a mixed legacy of challenging the system but unable to bring about fundamental change.
Khatami briefly indicated that he would run for president in the current election, but withdrew when Mousavi also announced he was running. Khatami claimed that he did not want to split the reform vote, but there are numerous rumors about being forced to drop out. In any event, Khatami threw his support behind Mousavi and was one of the first ones to speak out against the fraudulent election results. He has worked closely with Mousavi in organizing the opposition and has integrated his organization into the broad opposition movement.
Khatami is a moderate in the true sense of the word because he would like cooperation and compromise. During his presidency, this led to difficulties getting real reform through the system, but also allowed for the greatest amount of reformist participation in the history of the Islamic Republic. Perhaps the current power grab by the hardliners and their refusal to compromise might drive Khatami into bolder stands against the regime. He will be a critical part of the reform movement as the unrest continues and presents an important voice of opposition to the regime from someone who once was president of the country .
