Posted on 02/08/2009 5:19:53 PM PST by bruinbirdman
Mohammad Khatami, who served as Iran's first reformist president between 1997 and 2005 and oversaw a thaw in ties with the West, said on Sunday that he would run for the presidency again in the June election.
The race will pit Mr Khatami against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has presided over a deterioration of ties with the West amid tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"Here I am announcing that I will seriously take part as a candidate for the election," Mr Khatami, 65, said after he held talks with an association of moderate clerics.
"I never had doubt. Is it possible to remain indifferent toward the revolution's fate and shy away from running in the elections?" he asked.
"I consider this as a right to run ... This candidacy doesn't deprive others and the path is open. What should be stressed is that the elections must be held freely," he said.
Mr Khatami, a popular liberal cleric, was succeeded in 2005 by Mr Ahmadinejad, a hardliner who is set to stand again and has reportedly received the blessing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Mr Khatami's decision to run against Mr Ahmadinejad could significantly shake up Iran's politics, appealing to citizens disillusioned by the country's failing economy and Ahmadinejad's staunch anti-US foreign policy.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I would not want to be insuring this guy,better have someone else start his car enigne as well.
Isn’t he relaively moderate?
Doesn't matter supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his henchmen call the shots. 'Course, any president would by default be a sock puppet, too.
"Moderate" is a leftist euphemism for "he agrees with me but fools you."
yitbos
I could never tell if Mr Ahmadinejad is really nuts or is parroting the supreme leader’s position.
This is a great point. The position of “president” in the Iranian govt. is one for a useful idiot. They have virtually no power, as everything must runt through the supreme leader. Even the candidates for president must be vetted and approved by the supreme leader. The majles candidates must be approved by the appropriate body, members of which are appointed by, you guessed it, the supreme leader. It’s a self-licking ice cream cone.
The position of president in Iran has about as much power as the vice president does here, without the whole “second in line” thingy.
No Khatami is not moderate by any western measure. “..More regime opponents were killed or thrown into prison under Rafsanjani and Khatami than under Ahmadinejad. And both “reformers” tried to export the Khomeinist revolution via agents and clients in many Muslim countries, especially in the Middle East...”
Never forget for a moment that “Mad Mahmoud”, Mohammad Khatami and the other Iranian leaders are ALL crazy.
yitbos
He will soon be joining the 12th Iman down that well.
Top Iranian reformer to challenge Ahmadinejad, reports say (Khatami)
CNN | 2/8/09
Posted on 02/08/2009 11:32:29 AM PST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2181068/posts
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