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Murder in the Cathedral Sept 9, 2006 An Exclusive Pajamas Media video presentation on Iranian President Khatami’s visit to the Washington National Cathedral. Produced by Andrew Marcus with Richard Miniter. Among those interviewed are journalist Eli Lake and Amir Abbas Fakhravar, an Iranian dissident jailed during the Khatami regime. See original link for video link

Khatami condemns bin Laden, praises Hizbullah for 'resistance' against Israel Published: 09.11.06, 02:20 On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, former Iranian president Mohammed Khatami condemned Osama bin Laden and suicide bombing but also defended groups such as Hizbullah for what he characterized as resistance against Israeli colonialism. In a 30-minute speech given under tight security at Harvard University, Khatami repeatedly praised the concept of democracy but said American politicians since World War II have been infatuated with "world domination." Khatami said he was one of the first world leaders to condemn "the barbarous acts"...

When I heard about the protests planned against Khatami’s speech at Harvard, I knew just the guy to contact. I emailed Jesse Sage over at HAMSA and he filled me in on all the information. Khatami was to speak at 4:00 p.m. so the protests would start around three. We arrived in Harvard Square outside of the Kennedy School of Government just before then, and people were already gathering by the dozens. It wasn’t just the people I knew from HAMSA and the Iran Freedom Concert Coalition, either. There were many, from pro-Israel Jews to Americans concerned about our security...

Families Of Kidnapped Persian Jews Sue Khatami In US Court Law suit alleges visiting Iranian implemented anti-Semitic policy of torture and imprisonment NEW YORK, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven Jewish-Iranian families have filed suit in an American federal court against former President Mohammad Khatami over charges that he is responsible for the kidnapping and torture of their missing family members. The families, currently residing in Los Angeles and Israel, contend that Khatami instituted the policy of imprisoning their relatives without trials and refusing to provide them any information concerning their whereabouts. The Jews were arrested on different occasions during the...

While former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's visit to the land of The Great Satan is welcomed by all progressive sleeper cells inside this country, his message of tolerance and moderation has become an object of vicious attacks from such hate groups as the Episcopal Church, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's office. The controversy is largely fueled by Mullah Khatami's planned visits to Harvard, Georgetown University, Columbia University, and the University of Virginia for a round of introspective talks and consultations aimed at helping the progressive academic community better to understand their role in the Global...

NEW YORK, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven Jewish-Iranian families have filed suit in an American federal court against former President Mohammad Khatami over charges that he is responsible for the kidnapping and torture of their missing family members. The families, currently residing in Los Angeles and Israel, contend that Khatami instituted the policy of imprisoning their relatives without trials and refusing to provide them any information concerning their whereabouts. The Jews were arrested on different occasions during the years 1994 through 1997, as they sought to leave Iran across its border with Pakistan. On Friday evening copies of the complaint...

President Bush personally signed off on a visa allowing former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami to visit the United States because he wanted hear his views, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Khatami, who was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005, is the most prominent Iranian in decades to visit the United States, outside of the United Nations' New York headquarters. His five-city speaking tour is controversial given U.S. accusations Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, sponsors terrorism and arms Hizbollah guerillas in Lebanon. "I was interested to hear what he had to say," Bush told the Wall Street Journal in...

Top News Story Harvard Crimson Student protestors seeking amends for human rights abuses in Iran will greet former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami when he makes a highly scrutinized appearance at the Kennedy School of Government on Sunday. Khatami, an Islamic cleric who led Iran from 1997 to 2005, is set to speak at 4 p.m. tomorrow on the “Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence” at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. The Iran Freedom Concert Coalition, a student group that staged concerts to support Iranian dissidents last spring, is organizing the protest, which takes place when many...

Iran's Khatami: Suicide bombers hurt Islam Former Iranian president calls September 11 attacks 'atrocity,' says terrorists lack morality and will not go to heaven Former Iranian President Muhammad Khatami on Friday condemned the September 11 attacks against the United States as an atrocity and said suicide bombers did Islam an injustice and would not go to heaven. Three days before the fifth anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, the Shiite cleric urged Muslims to work against "Islamaphobia," which he said had grown since Islamic terrorists flew hijacked aircraft into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a...

Top News Story The under-reported Iranian opposition press conference in Washington DC on Khatami's visit. Kenneth R. Timmerman, NewsMax.com reported on the press conference of former Iranian political prisoners and their relatives gave grisly testimony of torture under the regime of former president Mohammad Khatami, who is currently visiting the United States.Senator Sam Brownback, who attended the press conference, introduced the Iran Human Rights Act, which would establish a State Department special envoy for human rights and democracy in Iran, support Iranian pro-democracy and human rights groups, and reform U.S.-funded broadcasts to the Iranian people.U.S. Senator Rick Santorum said...

Torture Victims Blast Khatami Visit Kenneth R. Timmerman Friday, Sept. 8, 2006 WASHINGTON –- Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., introduced legislation Thursday that would refocus U.S. government-funded broadcasting into Iran to "stand with the people of Iran." The Iranian regime's record of "repression, oppression, beatings and abuse ... was "a story that has been told too little," Brownback told reporters and Iranian-American activists. His "Iran Human Rights Act" would also appoint a "special envoy" to pro-democracy groups in Iran and in exile. "While we are focusing on [Iran's] nuclear weapons development, as we should, we cannot deny the human suffering of...

ARLINGTON, Va. - Iran's former president decried a wave of "Islamophobia" that he said is being spread in the United States by fear and hatred of Islam in response to terror perpetrated by Muslims. "In the crime of 9/11, two crimes were committed," Mohammad Khatami said. "One was killing innocent people. The second crime was masking this crime in the name of Islam." Under smothering security, with dozens of uniformed police and plainclothes American security personnel provided by the State Department, Khatami spoke Friday night at an event sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations called "The Dialogue of Civilizations:...

One of the most unsavory of the Iranian theocracy's numerous human rights abuses is its persecution of non-Muslims, including Christians. Not overly concerned with religious liberty, or even the plight of fellow Christians, Washington's National Cathedral is throwing open its doors today (Thursday) for former Iranian President and Islamic cleric Mohammad Khatami. Without any sense of irony, by him or the cathedral's Episcopalian masters, Khatami will talk about how the three "Abrahamic faiths" can build peace in the world. According to the National Cathedral's website, Khatami was the "first reformist president" of Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Indeed, the...

Top News Story Bush ramps up the rhetoric on Iran. John Pohoretz, The New York Post reported that President Bush just delivered what may be the most important speech of his presidency. The time has come, the president all but said yesterday, to take the gloves off with Iran.The Wall Street Journal reported that in a major speech President Bush quoted extensively from recent threats by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad such as his call for "a world without the United States and Zionism."   Ahmadinejad threatens Bush and the American people. Khaleej Times Online reported on a veiled threat...

Governor Mitt Romney declared yesterday he would not allow any state resources to be used to protect a former Iranian president during his visit to the Boston area this weekend, and he sharply criticized Harvard University for inviting Mohammed Khatami to speak on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. ``There are people in this state who have suffered from terrorism, and taking even a dollar of their money to support a terrorist is unacceptable," Romney, a potential candidate for the Republican Party's 2008 presidential nomination, said in a telephone interview yesterday. Romney said that...

Khatami, U.S.-Iran Relations National Cathedral Washington, District of Columbia (United States) ID: 194190 - 09/07/2006 - Former Iranian President Khatami spoke to reporters in the National Cathedral. Later in the day he made an address in the cathedral.

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told a University of Virginia audience today that American military forces should not leave Iraq immediately because violence would most likely break out. "We have reached a paradoxical stage," Khatami told an invitation-only group at the Rotunda. "On one hand the occupation must come to an end so that there will be peace in the region. At the same time, you can't leave Iraq in the hands of insurgents and terrorists. "If you asked me if America should leave Iraq tomorrow, I'd say no, don't do it." Khatami's trip to U.Va. was somewhat controversial, but...

CAMBRIDGE -- The dean of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government yesterday defended the decision to invite Mohammad Khatami to speak on the eve of Sept. 11, saying the United States needs dialogue with its enemies. ``Do we listen to those that we disagree with, and vigorously challenge them, or do we close our ears completely?" said David Ellwood, the Kennedy School's dean, in an interview with the Globe. Ellwood said he was disappointed in Governor Mitt Romney's refusal to give state protection to the former Iranian president during his visit. The dean said he approved the invitation,...

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami speaks today at the University of Virginia, presenting his views on religion, democracy and current foreign affairs. Khatami, head of Iran until 2005, will address an invitation-only audience in the Rotunda’s Dome Room at noon. The building will be sealed off prior to the speech, with only pre-screened attendees allowed in. Khatami will not take direct questions, although written questions may be submitted in advance by the invited guests and a selected few will be posed to the former president after the speech. [snip]

The Bush administration repeatedly warned that Iran would face serious consequences if it defied international demands to shut down its nuclear weapons program. So what did it do when Tehran blew off the Security Council’s Aug. 31 deadline to stop enriching uranium? It promptly issued a visa authorizing one of Iran’s leading theocrats, former president Mohammad Khatami, to embark on a propaganda tour of the United States. It is the first such visa issued to an Iranian president since 1979, when Islamist radicals loyal to the Ayatollah Khomeini seized the US embassy in Tehran and held American diplomats hostage for...