Former Liberal Iranian President to Run for Office Again

Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, a reformist leader who has espoused a foreign policy based on dialogue between his country and the United States, has announced that he will run for President of Iran again in the upcoming June 12 elections. Current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative and sometimes fiery nationalist whose version of foreign policy is predicated largely on anti-Western rhetoric, is under pressure from many within his own country who are disillusioned and in the midst of an economic downturn.

According to Khatami, his decision to run is based on his belief that anyone concerned with the future of Iran could not remain silent in the face of the current leadership’s mismanagement. Khatami also noted that he is "attached to the country’s greatness and the people’s right to have control over their own fate." During Khatami’s previous eight years in office, relations between Iran and the U.S. improved somewhat, but then took a major hit when former President George W. Bush labeled Iran as part of the "Axis of evil" after the September 11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center towers. Thereafter, starting in 2005, Ahmadinejad’s policy of continuous anti-U.S. sentiment and rhetoric further eroded relations between the two countries.

According to Saeed Laylaz, a political analyst in Tehran, "Khatami has the biggest chance to challenge Ahmadinejad. He is the most popular figure in Iran." Laylaz went on to say that "Khatami’s candidacy will make conservatives united behind Ahmadinejad." Under Ahmadinejad, Iran has become more isolated, faced widespread and horrendous inflation, been embroiled in constant disputes about its nuclear program and, in general, been in constant danger of intervention from outside forces. Ahmadinejad’s attempts to consolidate his political base and move forward his conservative, anti-Western agenda are facing continuous setbacks as his policies leave average Iranians worse off. To Americans, the atmosphere should appear eerily familiar.