University of St Andrews honours Mohammad Khatami

Khatami to receive honorary degree from University of St Andrews

Source: Press Release Issued by the University of St Andrews

His Excellency Seyed Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, will visit the UK next month to receive an Honorary Degree and deliver a lecture at the University of St Andrews.

Mr Khatami has accepted an invitation from University Principal Dr Brian Lang to give a lecture to an invited audience of 300 at Younger Hall, St Andrews, on October 31st 2006.

Scotland's oldest University will confer the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws on him during the visit in recognition of his efforts to encourage interfaith dialogue.

Mr Khatami will also open the West Wing of a new University Arts Building in St Andrews which will include a new Institute of Iranian Studies.

The President of Iran from 1997 to 2005, Khatami is currently President of the International Foundation for Dialogue Among Civilisations. Dialogue among nations, faiths and cultures is expected to be a key theme of his Younger Hall lecture.

The following day, Wednesday November 1st 2006, Mr Khatami will visit Chatham House, London, to deliver a speech and take questions from the audience.

For further information and all press and media inquiries, please contact:

Niall Scott, Director, Press Office, University of St Andrews, tel 0044 1334 462244/462529, mobile 0044 7711 223062, e-mail ns30@st-andrews.ac.uk

Sam Hardy, Chatham House Press Office, tel 0044 207 957 5739, mob 0044 704 664 2205, e-mail: shardy@chathamhouse.org.uk

Khatami dismisses vicious cycle of terrorism as a threat to safety of global family

IRNA - Head of the International Institute of Dialogue Among Cultures and Civilizations Seyed Mohammad Khatami said on Sunday that the vicious cycle of terrorism is a threat to the order, safety and tranquility of the global family.

According to a report released by the Public Relations Department of the International Institute of Dialogue Among Cultures and Civilizations, the former president made the remark in a meeting with the Swiss President Moritz Levenberger in Zurich.

He added that the current critical situation can only be solved through moderation and promotion of the culture of dialogue.

Turning to the significance of dialogue among cultures, he said, "Today, the world's condition is very inappropriate and violence, terrorism, hatred as well as war are major threats facing it."
For his part, the Swiss president underlined the importance of dialogue among cultures, civilizations as well as religions and called on Khatami to take the required measures to implement his initiative of dialogue.

Levenberger pointed to the position and role of Iran and Islam in advancement of dialogue among civilizations and said, "As an independent country, Switzerland has serious anxieties over eruption of possible conflicts in the world of today.

"That is why, considering the situation of Iran and the world of Islam, Switzerland calls for dialogue between Islam and the West," he noted.

On his way back from the US, Khatami made a stop-over in Switzerland to go through the legal process of registration of the International Institute of Dialogue Among Cultures and Civilizations.

Khatami highlights significance of NGOs

IRNA - Tehran - Democracy will be devoid of any meaning and concept if there are no non-governmental and popular organizations, said Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami here on Saturday.

Khatami, the head of the International Institute of Dialogue Among Cultures and Civilizations, said it would be a big mistake for governments to take civil institutions as their rivals.

He said Iran's Islamic Revolution wants to see the public having a role in promotion of their financial and spiritual standing.

Iran: Early Race For Clerical Assembly Gets Bitter

Note: Only Parts of the main article were selected and come as below:

WASHINGTON,(RFE/RL) -- Early competition to head the Assembly of Experts, the influential assembly that oversees the work of the supreme leader, pits a pragmatic former president against a fundamentalist seminarian with close ties to the current president. Another possible choice, ex-president and reformist Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, lies somewhere in the middle.

The race could have serious long-term implications -- particularly for would-be reformers.

The Assembly of Experts is a powerful institution whose 86 clerics' supervisory role includes the power to remove Iran's supreme leader from office. The fact that its members are popularly elected every eight years highlights the significance of the decision that faces voters in the December 15 ballot.

One of the most controversial aspects of this election is the competition for the assembly's leadership.

>. . . . . .<

Reformist Target

The fundamentalists are attacking other prospective leaders in the Assembly of Experts, too. One of their apparent targets is a symbol of the reformist movement, former President Khatami (1997-2005). A reformist party leader, National Trust Party head Ebrahim Amini, accused Khatami's opponents of "trying by various means to create doubt in public opinion about the positions of the reformists," "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on September 16. He accused those same elements of resorting to "character assassination."

A leading figure from the center of the political spectrum, senior Executives of Construction Party member Mohammad Hashemi, echoed that accusation, "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on September 16. He said the bullying began after the 2000 parliamentary elections and has "gradually turned into an unethical tradition" through which fundamentalists stopped pressing solutions and started relying solely on political attacks on their opponents.

The most vicious recent attacks on Khatami have come from Fatemeh Rajabi, the wife of government spokesman Gholam Hussein Elham and the head of the "Nosazi" website. In an open letter published in "Etemad-i Melli" on September 4, Rajabi suggested that a U.S. visa for Khatami's recent trip to the United States is his "reward for eight years of efforts from the Americans, and especially from .the Black House."

Rajabi attacked Khatami's "presence and parading in America's cities" and disparaged his views on "modern Islam" She accused Iran's most prominent proponent of reform of distorting religion -- calling Khatami's Islam "the Islam of a life of pleasure, the Islam of doing business, the Islam of aristocracy, the Islam of seeking comfort, the Islam of seeking welfare, and in a word: American Islam." She called it "a lame excuse for someone who is dressed as Shi'ite clergy?"

Criticized by reformists and by conservatives, and her brother, Mohammad Hassan Rajabi, according to "Kargozaran" on August 1, Rajabi lashed out again. She said Khatami's ascribing of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States to Muslims "delivered a major blow against Islam." She suggested that recent remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that elicited widespread condemnation among Muslims were "a natural echo of Khatami's remarks," "Aftab" reported on September 17.

>. . . . . .<

Are The Reformers Ready?

Pro-reform parties are not standing by idly. They are trying to form a coalition to compete with the fundamentalists. "Aftab-i Yazd" on September 16 quoted Mohammad Salamati of the Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization as saying the reformist coalition has been finalized.

But there also are questions about a draft election law that many observers fear would extend the hard-liners' considerable ability to restrict candidates for elected office. A former interior minister, Hojatoleslam Abdolvahed Musavi-Lari, noted that the group conducting the election -- the Interior Ministry -- is from the same political camp as the Guardians Council, which is supervising the election, "Aftab-i Yazd" reported on August 14.

Musavi-Lari noted that the Guardians Council's power to vet candidates represents reformists' "main concern," since that body can decide "whether or not they will be allowed to remain on the scene."

The Assembly of Experts held its semi-annual meeting on August 29-30. Little information emerges from those closed-door affairs -- highlighted by the fact that final statements are remarkably similar from year to year.

But as the current group prepares to give way to a new Assembly of Experts, it appears that a fundamentalist victory would cement the hold of President Ahmadinejad's allies over all elected branches of government. On the other hand, reformist gains would signal that a group that has been in disarray since 2003 has returned to the political fray -- and is not completely marginalized.

Khatami warns against prejudice and egoism

IRNA - Iran's former President Mohammad Khatami said, "Prejudiced egoists do not appreciate dialogue, because moderation is a pre-condition for holding dialogue."

Speaking on the occasion of anniversary of " Dialogue among Civilizations", September 21, Khatami said," Human beings are naturally seeking truth, which really exists and is absolute, but human beings under different social and historical circumstances as well as subjective and objective limitations establish a relation with different proportion of truth."

Head of International Institute of Dialogue among Civilizations noted, "There is a difference between 'dialogue' and 'negotiation'.

The aim of negotiation is to satisfy the other side and achieve benefit, but the aim of dialogue is getting acquainted with each other and making a joint effort to get closer to the truth."

Concerning his latest trip to the United States of America, Khatami said, "I tried to transfer the voice of peace, justice and humanity, which comes from Islam's roots and the depth of Iranian culture, to the scientific, academic and cultural communities in the USA."

The UN General Assembly named the year 2001 as the "Year of Dialogue among Civilizations" upon proposal offered by then President Mohammad Khatami.

After that, September 21 has been dubbed as "Day of Dialogue among Civilization," in Iran.

Mohammad Khatami to visit United Kingdom

Khatami to visit St Andrews

By ARTHUR MACMILLAN

Scotland on sunday - FORMER Iranian president Mohammad Khatami will visit Scotland next month to deliver a keynote lecture at St Andrews University.

The former premier, who ruled the Middle East state until last year, will open a new Institute of Iranian Studies in the town.

The visit will make Khatami, himself a former academic, the most senior Iranian figure to visit the UK since the country's revolution in 1979.

His three-day visit to the UK will begin in St Andrews on October 31.

Dr Ali Ansari, who will head up the new department at the university, said: "He is the ideal person to open the institute given his combination of academic and political experience. It is the first time a former Iranian president has visited Britain and the biggest visit since the Shah in 1972."

It is believed that St Andrews beat off stiff competition from several other UK universities to ensure Khatami's visit.

The lecture is expected to focus on academic matters, but a university source said the current political situation in Iran would also be on the agenda.

The source said: "We fully expect him to be answering questions about the incumbent Iranian president's nuclear intent. It is almost inevitable the war on terror will also feature."

Khatami, who is widely seen as Iran's first reformist president, visited the United States earlier this month when President Bush personally ensured his visa was in order.

Khatami: I expected Pope to behave according to his sensitive position

Amid criticism and violence the first balanced views about the Pope's speech appear; Former Iranian President Khatami and current Indonesian President Susilo warn against jumping to conclusions.

Rome (AsiaNews) – Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said the full text of the Pope speech in Regensburg should be read before making any comments on its contents.

"I hope that the reports in this regard are misinterpreted as such remarks [as reported in the press] are usually made by uninformed and fanatic people but my impression of the pope was rather an educated and patient man; I wonder as a person who expected Pope not to have such prejudices due to his sensitive position" Khatami said after his return to Tehran from a two-week visit to the United States.

Khatami’s is the first balanced statement to come out of the Muslim world with regard to the Pope’s remarks about statements made by Manuel II Palaiologos, who said that the "new things" brought by Islam are only evil things.

Today during the Angelus, Benedict XVI again insisted that the Byzantine emperor’s words do not reflect his views.

As made clear in yesterday’s press release by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the text of the Pope’s proclusion (inaugural address) shows that the Pontiff only wanted to express his “rejection of the religious motivation for violence, from whatever side it may come”.

So far reactions in the Muslim world, which have ranged from outrage and criticism to violence, have been based solely on media excerpts. There are not as yet any translations of the Pope’s speech into Arabic or any Eastern languages.

Like Iran’s Khatami, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has also been more balanced in his reaction. Speaking from Havana (Cuba) where he is attending a summit of non-aligned countries, he said that “Indonesian Muslims should have wisdom, patience, and self-restraint to address this sensitive issue. . . . We need them so that harmony among people is not at stake”.

Susilo, who presides over the fate of the largest Muslim country in the world, urged the Holy See to “be very quick to respond this very sensitive issue by issuing some corrections and constructive gestures that would decrease tension” between Muslims and Christians.

Khatami answers reporters upon arrival from US visit

IRNA - Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami answered questions from enthusiastic reporters upon his arrival at Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport Friday night from a controversial visit to the US.

The prominent cleric said that during his appearance in various international fora he had always defended the dignity and status of the Iranian nation.

"I always defended the national dignity of Iranians at each international forum in order to avoid creation of controversies about them," Khatami said.

He stated that during his near two-week speaking tour of the US, the first by a senior Iranian official since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he discussed his views on Islam, dialogue among civilizations and Iran's peaceful nuclear activities.

"I believe it was a successful visit in general," said the head of Iran's International Center for Dialogue among Civilizations.

However, his five-city visit to the US triggered various reactions inside and outside the country.

A US-based pro-Israeli group said that he was visiting the US "to whitewash Iran's "controversial nuclear record, support for terror and human rights violations."

Khatami, however, said he focused solely on themes of dialogue and co-existence in his speeches at Harvard University, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (a human rights group), Washington's National Cathedral and the UN Alliance of Civilizations in the UN Headquarters in New York as well as his interviews with Time Magazine and Cable News Network (CNN).

Ansked to comment on the strong criticisms levelled by domestic figures on his visit, the smiling Khatami said that he had enough patience for insults and was "used to bad language directed at him." He added that during his years of presidency (1997-2005), he had always welcomed criticism.

"We have to tolerate vilification until, God willing, we will pass the age of impatience and truly learn how to deal with our opponents' opposing views," stressed the initiator of "Dialogue "among Civilizations."

He added that while he was in the US he had received various negative reactions about his visit mostly from Zionist and warmonger circles who, by no means, would want to see Iran successfully resolve its problem (with the West).

Khatami said that he did not take seriously any of the negative reactions to his visit, adding that what mattered to him "is the unity of the Islamic system and, more significantly, the dignity of Iran."

Amir Taheri's Khatami-Bashing Exposed

Peyvand.com - By Kaveh L. Afrasiabi

Intolerance and discursive violence, two favorite targets of Mr. Mohammad Khatami in his recent speech on "ethics of tolerance in the age of violence," manifest themselves in a variety of shapes and forms and, sadly, the chorus of Khatami-bashers in the US media have shown us the depth to which they have sunk in this malady.

This past week, the right-wing politicians and media pundits led one of the most vicious campaigns of character assassination against an international public personality ever witnessed. Comparing Khatami to Hitler, Bin Laden, and the KKK leader David Duke, the formidable army of Khatami-bashers filled opinion columns, air time on TV news and talk shows, and lined up behind the microphones during the answer and question wherever Khatami spoke in his US tour. This was, in a word, a sad spectacle of politics of hatred ran amuck, with so many politicians, including the Governor of Massachusetts, some members of US Congress, and journalists failing the test of tolerance.

Thankfully, the upper hand belonged to the people who treated Mr. Khatami with respect and showed tolerance for his point of view, even if they disagreed with some of what he said, such as the ABC "Nightline" anchorman, George Stephanopolous, who showed a great deal of deference toward Mr. Khatami in the interview aired on September 14. Another example is Helena Cobban, who in her article in Christian Science Monitor, dated September 14, emphasized Khatami's message of peace, quoting Khatami's message to both Iran and the US, to "move less toward enmity and more toward peace." Yet another example is the editorial of Boston Globe, which took issue with Governor Mitt Romeny's politics of labeling (Khatami as a "terrorist") and admonished him for his mischaracterization and distortion of Khatami's record, as a moderate Islamic figure.

Without doubt, as I pointed out in my OpEd article in Boston Globe, titled "Governor's got it wrong on Khatami," Khatami's legacy of pioneering the idea of Dialogue Among Civilizations, promoting non-violent resolution of conflicts, mutual respect and cross-cultural dialogue, alone vindicated the decision of Harvard University to invite him for a lecture. Subsequently, I had occasion to debate this issue with the right-wing CNN talk host, Glen Beck, as well as on a number of radio stations, relying on my own memory of Khatami's warm reception by, among others, prominent theologians in Europe, and the parliamentarians in various European capitals.

But, if there is a lesson to be taken from Khatami's trip to the US is the politics of intolerance permeating the Khatami-bashers among the Iranian expatriates, who preach democracy for Iran and yet are incapable of exercising it here in the US! Their false pretense to democratic values can be unveiled once we peel beneath their facade of objectivity and discover the ugly face of discursive violence deeply embedded within them.

Amir Taheri is a vivid example of this unsavory clan, penning "Khatami's discourse of deception" in New York Post, deserving close reading for the wealth of factual errors, misstatements and mischaracterizations packed in one article. Consider the following:

(1) Taheri claims that Khatami's English interpreter had a hidden agenda, to mistranslate what Khatami said in Farsi. One example Taheri gives is the word khoshunat, which he claims means "roughness" and yet was interpreted as "violence." Wrong Mr. Taheri. Any imbecile familiar with Farsi disagrees with you and knows too well that it is you who has distorted the meaning of khoshunat, universally used in our texts and every day language as none other than violence.

(2) Taheri claims that Khatami is a member of the Assembly of Experts. False. Khatami is not.

(3) Taheri claims that Khatami introduced himself as the president of Iran, and not the Islamic Republic of Iran. Wrong again. First, Khatami never introduced himself and those who did, such as Kennedy School's professor Graham Allison, introduced him properly as the former president of Islamic Republic of Iran.

(4) Taheri claims that Khatami "altered his identity" by deleting reference to his religious title. Not so, as Khatami wore the same robe and ammameh on his head, which was a clear signal as any about his religious credential, which he is rightly proud of, and if certain media chose to limit themselves to his first and last name, why should Khatami be blamed?

(5) Taheri claims that 'Khatami also forgot to mention that there was no dialogue among Iranians inside Iran itself while he was in power." False again. Khatami contributed a great deal to the evolution of Iran's civil society, by promoting the non-government organizations, including dozens of women's and environmental groups, and to the best of his ability tried, in a difficult environment, to protect free press and free speech.

To open a caveat here, in Fall, 2004, I was a visiting professor of political science at Tehran University and was present at the university's auditorium when Khatami held a free, and fierce, debate with the students, most of whom were critical of him, which was aired by the national television. For several hours, I saw Khatami engaged in an unfettered conversation, answering all questions patiently, defending his record without, however, trying to remain above criticisms and deflect the right criticisms.

Now, Mr. Taheri, a noted editor under the ancient regime, which never tolerated the slightest public criticisms, has some explaining to do why such clear examples of political openness on Khatami's part while he was a president should evade his radar?

(6) Taheri writes: "He spoke a great deal about the need for dialogue, tolerance and understanding. But he made no mention of the fact that he had closed down 150 Iranian newspapers, imprisoned scores of journalists and unleashed his Hezbollah hounds to crush the student revolts against his regime." But, really Mr. Taheri, whoever in Iran, even among the most ardent dissidents, has ever blamed Khatami for these? Your politics of indistinction leaves so much to be desired, and you conveniently ignore that several pro-Khatami papers were shut down during his presidency, including the daily Bahar, which was owned by Khatami's press secretary, and that not once did Khatami took a step to imprisoning any journalist, let alone unleashing vigilante violence against his opponents? Nor do you mention that some of the closed papers (have) resurfaced under new names, the paper Etemad being one such example.

(7) Taheri disingenuously misrepresents Khatami's facial expression of sadness regarding the murder of Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi as "broad smile," and then goes on to say that he said he wasn't sure "how the poor woman died in one of his prisons." In fact, as the text of Khatami's speech reflected in the Boston Globe, not to mention his other earlier statements, regarding this tragic case shows, Khatami expressed his serious regret and conveyed that he did his best to push for investigation of the murder -- under suspicious and yet to be determined circumstances.

And what about Khatami's self-defense, during his US tour, that to his credit he put a stop to the serial murder of dissidents during his era, and managed to purge the "rogue" elements from the intelligence agencies responsible for those crimes? Of course, it would be too much to expect Taheri, sold on demonization of Khatami, to bother with such things rattling his carefully-constructed evil image of Khatami.

Alas, I could go on listing a half dozen other factual distortions in Taheri's article, but that would be a disservice to the readers and giving importance to this discredited, sensationalist journalist with a proven record of systematic distortions -- as his recent pieces falsely accusing Iran's UN ambassador of being a former hostage-taker and falsely claiming that Iran has made Nazi-like dress codes on Iranian Jews, both of which have been soundly exposed in the pages of Nation Magazine and by the Canadian Government. What a pity, in spite of such atrocious record, Taheri is still taken seriously by some aspects of the US media.

Related Articles:

Governor's got it wrong on Khatami? Boston Globe
Bunkum From Benador? The Nation
Khatami's Discourse of Deception? By Amir Taheri, New York Post
IRAN OKS 'NAZI' SOCIAL FABRIC? By Amir Taheri, New York Post

Mixed feelings over Khatami visit; BBC

By Mohammad Tabaar, BBC World Service,

In his recent visit to the US, the reformist former president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, called the Holocaust a "historical fact", condemned al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and advised US Muslims to be "good citizens".

At the same time, he criticised Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, defended the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and slammed US policy in the Middle East.

Speaking at Harvard University, Mr Khatami said: "One cannot and ought not engage in violence in the name of any religion, just as one cannot and ought not turn the world into one's military camp in the name of human rights and democracy.

"During the calamity of 11 September, two crimes were committed: One was the killing of innocent people and the second was making this crime in the name of Islam," Mr Khatami told the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

At the Washington National Cathedral, Mr Khatami, who is now head of the International Centre for Dialogue of Civilisations, called for "true inter-civilisational dialogue".

"Great religions, particularly Islam, Judaism and Christianity, can help mankind solve modern problems and challenges by a return to their vital, vibrant and common essence," he said.

Repentance

Mr Khatami's 12-day private speaking tour, which ended this week, was subject to much criticism from conservatives, both in Iran and in the US.

In Iran, Mr Khatami was criticised for "recognising the existence of Israel".

In an editorial, Hossein Shariatmadari of the hard-line Kayhan daily asked Mr Khatami: "Why do you oppose Imam (Khomeini's) explicit view of Israel as a cancerous tumour and his demand that it be removed from the political geography of the region?"

He added that he hoped that Mr Khatami would "repent" to God and "apologise to the oppressed and noble people of Iran".

Fatemeh Rajabi, wife of government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, went even further and called on religious leaders to defrock Mr Khatami.

Meanwhile in the US, Republican Senator Rick Santorum described him as "one of the chief propagandists of the Islamic fascist regime".

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney denounced Mr Khatami's visit to Harvard and said taxpayers should not be providing security and special treatment to an individual who supports violent jihad and the destruction of Israel.

The US state department's bureau of diplomatic security ensured his safety while he travelled to New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Charlottesville and Boston.

Personal decision

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, President Bush said that he had personally signed off the visa granted to Mr Khatami.

"I was interested to hear what he had to say," Mr Bush explained. "I'm interested in learning more about the Iranian government, how they think, what people think within the government."

As Mr Khatami was leaving the US, the administration expressed mixed feelings about his trip.

In a telephone interview, deputy state department spokesman Tom Casey said he "appreciated" Mr Khatami's positive comments, including his condemnation of terrorism.

"Unfortunately many of those views that he did express here now as a private citizen were not reflective of the policies he pursued while he was in office," he said.

Still 'a player'

Nevertheless, President's Bush's decision to give Mr Khatami the visa "suggests an emerging flexibility or at least curiosity about what is going on in Iran", says Graham Allison of Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Mr Allison believes that Mr Khatami is still an important figure in Iranian politics.

"Our local assessment here is he [Khatami] is one of the top dozen or 15 players in a complicated system which we don't clearly understand," he said in a telephone interview.

In his opening remarks at the forum, Mr Allison, who had invited Mr Khatami to speak at the University's Kennedy School of Government said: "In the fifth year of the global war on terrorism, declared in response to the 11 September attacks, no geopolitical relationship between two nations is more important or more troubled than the relationship between the US and Iran."

In such an environment, Mr Khatami's visit is "a small straw in the wind," Mr Allison told the BBC.

Khatami offers moderate vision of Iran

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN
AP: Iran's former President Mohammed Khatami could be found munching seared salmon and Caesar salad last weekend with Harvard professors on the last leg of a five-city U.S. tour.

In speeches, interviews and meetings with foreign policy groups, Khatami offered a moderate take on relations between East and West that focused on nonviolence, discussion and mutual understanding — in sharp contrast to his hard-line successor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In some of the most significant U.S.-Iranian contact since the 1979 Islamic revolution, the former Iranian leader blended calls for tolerance with critiques of the U.S. — angering conservatives in both countries.

Smiling gently beneath his black turban at talks in Washington, Chicago, Cambridge and Charlottesville, Va., the soft-spoken cleric was an unusual public face for a country that is locked in a nuclear standoff with the West, cracking down on dissent at home and accused of aiding Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

He condemned the Sept. 11 attacks, endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, acknowledged the existence of the Holocaust and said that, at least for now, the U.S. presence in Iraq is necessary.

He mixed conciliatory language with descriptions of the U.S. as an overreaching imperial power, and followed scholarly musings on tolerance and understanding with defenses of what the West has called Iranian violations of human rights.

"The pleasant ring of the word 'Puritan' has always delighted the lovers of freedom, compassion and humanity," Khatami told an audience at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in a speech Sunday that surveyed 200 years of American history.

Khatami moved forward in time, his tone hardening as he described the growth of American power.

"One cannot and ought not turn the world into one's military camp in the name of human rights and democracy," he said, a moment after also criticizing terrorism.

In a tough question-and-answer session with students, he defended Hezbollah while denying that Iran supported it; endorsed the punishment of Iranian homosexuals while implying that the death penalty was extreme; and criticized the family of a Canadian-Iranian photojournalist for its reaction to her death in Iranian detention.

"When he finished talking he was sweating underneath his robes," said Graham Allison, a leading expert on nuclear weapons and director of the Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Khatami differed sharply on questions of domestic policy with Ahmadinejad, telling a questioner he disagreed with the Iranian president's call for a purge of secular and liberal professors.

"Iran is in dire need of as many university professors as it can get," he said. "I believe that Iran should extend its welcome to professors from different countries, even non-Islamic and secular countries."

Allison said he told Khatami that he thought the U.S. had done a lot for Iran since Sept. 11, 2001 by deposing its key regional enemies, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"He said, 'I actually somewhat agree,'" Allison said. "He said that actually he thinks that the interests of the U.S. and the interests of Iran are more convergent than are the interests of either the U.S. or Iran with any other state in the region."

Khatami rarely addressed current events so directly in his public talks.

But even his softer message, and the Bush administration's approval of his trip here, left observers puzzled over whether the U.S.-Iranian relationship was thawing.

Some Iran-watchers said it would have been close to impossible for Khatami to take such a high-profile trip without the approval of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's ultimate authority.

..........

But Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said he did not believe Khatami sought Khamenei's permission or was speaking in any way for the regime.

"He's a private citizen," Takeyh said. "He goes where he wants to go."

Khatami entered on a special visa that allowed him to avoid the fingerprinting imposed on other foreign visitors on entry to the U.S. And he traveled with a heavily armed State Department security detail.

In Iran, hard-liners accused Khatami of betraying revolutionary ideals. Moderates leapt to his defense, saying his conciliatory views could pave the way for a new style of Iranian diplomacy.

Fatemeh Rajabi, wife of government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, accused Khatami of being an American agent and in comments on a hard-line Web site she called on religious leaders to defrock him.

American conservatives also criticized Khatami's trip. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., called him "one of the chief propagandists of the Islamic fascist regime."

Protesters rallied against Iran's human rights record and foreign policy at several of Khatami's stops. An estimated 200 gathered during the Harvard talk to decry what they called the Islamic republic's support for terrorism and abuse of women.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized the visit and ordered state agencies not to cooperate if asked for assistance. Instead of state police, officers from Cambridge accompanied Khatami's motorcade.

Annan meets with Iran President Khatami

AP reports: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan asked former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday to help foster dialogue with the United States, as the moderate cleric wound down an unprecedented U.S. tour, the United Nations said.

Annan and Khatami kissed each other on the cheek three times and chatted amiably before the private meeting began. It came near the end of Khatami's trip, which has taken him to Boston, Chicago and Washington.

"The secretary-general expressed his wish to see more dialogue between the United States and Iran on different levels and said he hoped President Khatami would be useful in that regard," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Khatami brushed past reporters on his way out of the U.N., smiling and pointing to his watch as he sped out the door to a waiting motorcade.

Khatami's five-city tour of the United States has angered some conservatives in Congress, and some influential Iranian exiles in the United States.

The two-week tour was the result of an invitation from the U.N. for Khatami could attend a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations, a U.N.-sponsored group that promotes understanding between Western and Islamic states.
Khatami is a founding member of the alliance.

Officials at Iran's U.N. Mission refused to say when he was leaving, though diplomats said it would be either late Tuesday or Wednesday.

Khatami's US visit stirs tension among Iranian right-wing factions

Eurasianet, By Kamal Nazer Yasin:
Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami wrapped up an unprecedented visit to the United States on September 12. While the reform-minded Khatami defended Iran’s right to conduct nuclear research, his trip was viewed by the neo-conservative-dominated government in Tehran as subversive.

Khatami's five-city tour was devoted mostly to promoting his favorite themes – a dialogue among civilizations and the need for Muslims to come to terms with modernity. He also was critical of US unilateralism in international affairs. Beyond his comments on the nuclear issue, what caught the attention of Iran watchers were his subtle jabs at the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration.

In comments to an audience at Harvard University, Khatami criticized the Ahmadinejad administration’s actions to purge institutions of higher learning in Iran of liberal-minded professors. "We cannot afford to lose any professors," Khatami said. "On the contrary, we need to encourage even foreign academics to work in Iran."

Khatami also expressed opinions during his US tour that sharply contrasted with statements made by the incumbent president, and which had not been uttered by an Iranian public figure outside of closed-door talks. The reformist ex-president, for example, acknowledged Israel’s right to exist, whereas Ahmadinejad once called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."

The objectives for Khatami’s trip were two-fold: to counter the Ahmadinejad administration’s confrontational rhetoric; and to demonstrate that other voices and strands of political thought inside the Iranian establishment remain active. Viewed from this perspective, Khatami’s trip can be considered a modest success. It demonstrated that although reformist and old-style pragmatist factions are out of power in Tehran, there still exists a considerable bloc of dissenters within the Iranian establishment -- comprising thousands of civil servants, technocrats, enterprise directors and even some military professionals – who are unhappy with general direction the country is taking.

That Khatami made the visit at all probably had as much to do with the will of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as it did with the ex-president’s personal preferences. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which routinely decides on matters such as this, is today heavily influenced by Ahmadinejad allies who are known to detest Khatami and the reformist outlook that he represents.

Without question, only Ayatollah Khamenei’s personal intervention could have overcome security council opposition, and have given the US visit a green light.

Ayatollah Khamenei is known to disagree with Khatami on many points. But some political analysts in Tehran believe that the Supreme Leader felt that, at this critical juncture in Iran’s dealings with the West, it was imperative that the Islamic Republic present a less confrontational face than that presented by Ahmadinejad. Thus, the Supreme Leader sanctioned the trip.

The visit provoked rage within Iranian neo-conservative circles. Prior to Khatami’s departure, some hardliners launched a preemptive strike, designed to destroy Khatami’s credibility. The strike came in the form of an open letter that received wide play from neo-conservative-dominated media outlets.

The letter’s author was Fatimeh Rajavi, who is closely associated with far-right groups and who is the wife of the government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham. In it, she openly called for Khatami, who is a middle ranking cleric, to be defrocked. “The fact is Mohammad Khatami’s trip to Washington is eagerly welcome by the White House,” she wrote in her open letter. “The fact is Mohammad Khatami, as the main executioner of the Reformist project, is going to be paid what is his due for eight years of service on behalf of the 'Black House.'”

“It is incumbent on the venerable grand ayatollahs [Iran’s religious leadership] … to once and for all settle the issue of this individual who is wearing this (sacred) robe,” the letter continued, describing Khatami’s trip as an “unpardonable transgression.” The letter also lashed out at Iranian pragmatists, led by Aliakhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Kayhan, an influential newspaper closely associated with Ahmadinejad’s administration, blasted Khatami in a September 12 editorial. First, it listed a series of misdeeds committed by the ex-president during his US visit, including his call for recognition of the Jewish state, his belief in the existence of the Holocaust, and his opposition to characterizing the United States as “the Great Satan.” The editorial went on to demand an apology from Khatami, saying he had abused his status as a former president to damage the national interest. “Let's only hope that Mr. Khatami wakes up, asks for absolution and apologizes to the noble and suffering Iranian people,” the editorial said.

The vehemence of the neo-conservatives reaction may have alienated other rightist-oriented political factions. An indicator of this was reflected in the news coverage of Khatami’s visit contained in the Jomhouri Islami newspaper, which is generally aligned with fundamentalist clerics. The paper tended to provide relatively objective accounts of Khatami’s public appearances, devoid of vitriolic comments. It also attacked some foreign media reports on Khatami’s comments as distortions of the facts. In a September 10 article, for instance, it criticized the British Broadcasting Corp. for misquoting Khatami as saying that Iranians in general are concerned about a possible US attack.

Experts believe that hardliner anger, as manifested in the Kayhan editorial, succeeded in constraining Khatami during his US visit. For example, neo-conservative pressure reportedly forced Khatami to cancel a planned meeting with former US president Jimmy Carter, the occupant of the White House during the Iranian hostage crisis.

Editor’s Note: Kamal Nazer Yasin is a pseudonym for a freelance journalist specializing in Iranian affairs.

Iran daily accuses Mohammad Khatami of siding with USA

AFP reports: A leading Iranian newspaper has launched a bitter personal attack on reformist former president Mohammad Khatami for "siding with" arch-foe the United States on his US tour.

The hardline Kayhan daily, whose editor is appointed by Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, charged Tuesday that Khatami had been defying the positions adopted by the Islamic republic's late founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Enraged by Khatami calling the Holocaust an "absolute fact" and backing a two-state solution in Israel, Kayhan said: "Why are you opposing Imam (Khomeini's) explicit opinion that saw Israel as a cancerous tumor which should be removed from the region?"

"Khatami made the unfounded and unscientific comment while many prominent European and American researchers have proven the 'Holocaust' is only a fabricated myth," it added in an editorial.

Khatami was "obviously siding with (US President George W.) Bush and Muslim nations' enemies."

The reformist president of Iran from 1997-2005, Khatami is on a private tour of the United States -- the most senior Iranian figure to visit the US capital since relations were broken off quarter of a century ago.

Speaking at universities and cultural centers, Khatami has also called for dialogue between Iran and the United States, distancing himself from hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map".

Kayhan also lashed out at Khatami for "supporting the continued presence of occupiers in Iraq".

Khatami told USA Today newspaper last Tuesday that the United States should stay in Iraq until the Iraqi government brings the insurgency-plagued country under control.

"We can't leave this newly-formed government at the mercy of terrorists and insurgents," Khatami said, adding Iran was not the enemy of the United States and both countries shared strategic interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Mr Khatami may claim he can freely voice his opinions as an independent person despite their being opposed to the Imam's (positions) and in agreement of American and Israeli policies.

"But you are important for America as a president for eight years, otherwise Bush and his cronies would not bother to deceive you," fumed editor Hossein Shariatmadari, who signed the article.

Khatami has not met with US officials, but the US State Department has provided security for his trip.

Khatami touts progress in Iran, both past, present

The Boston Globe: CAMBRIDGE -- Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said yesterday that he was satisfied with the progress he made toward expanding freedom in Iran during his eight years at the helm --and he asserted that Iran is still heading toward democracy.

"We would have hoped to achieve much more progress," he said in an interview. "Within the available resources and constraints we had, I was satisfied. Of course, there are always concerns."

Khatami, who served as Iran's president from 1997 to 2005, took office promising political reforms but has been widely criticized for failing to do more to stop brutal crackdowns on thousands of student protesters, writers, and activists who initially supported him.

Democracy activists inside Iran experienced a brief era of greater freedom under Khatami, but then suffered from arrests and beatings by organs controlled by Iran's senior Islamic clerics who have final say over government policy. The repression widened under Khatami's hard-line successor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Khatami is the most prominent Iranian dignitary to tour the United States since the two countries cut off relations in 1979. His five-city tour, which included a speech at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government on Sunday as well as private functions yesterday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard's Faculty Club, has been praised by those who want greater dialogue between the United States and Iran and condemned by those who say Khatami is no different than his hard-line rivals.

Khatami acknowledged yesterday that many Iranians wrote to him in vain seeking protection from prison sentences and abuse. But he blamed "other institutions" inside the Iranian government.

"Of course some people have written . . .to me demanding certain recourse even though some of them have gone through the judicial process," he said. "Many of them feel they have been unjustly treated. Some of them have been mistreated. I believe nobody would probably claim the executive branch mistreated them during those years."

But he described what he called lasting achievements during his time in office, including "the development of civil institutions, expansion of free and independent media, [and] the birth and formation of political parties."

"I managed to make great progress," he said, citing what he said was an increase in the number of university students and the number of women in managerial positions.

But Khatami warned that US efforts to promote democracy in Iran would be treated with suspicion in a region that has seen the United States befriend autocratic regimes, a reference to countries such as Saudi Arabia, which has been subjected to far less US pressure to democratize than Iran. "Democracy is not something that you can impose," he said.

Khatami urged the United States to set a timeline for withdrawing from Iraq, saying that "indefinite occupation" will not stabilize the country. He said the US should seek the help of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, to consolidate the chaotic government in Baghdad. He rejected US accusations that Iran is supporting militias that fuel the sectarian violence in the country.

"Security in Iraq first and foremost would benefit Iran, and this is our foremost wish," he said.

Asked whether he wished he had done more to reestablish ties with the United States during his presidency, he said that he and President Clinton took steps towards better relations.

But he said that some policies under Clinton such as the passage of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which gives the US the right to fine foreign companies who invest in Iran's oil infrastructure, made it harder to convince skeptics inside Iran that friendship is possible with the United States.

The inner circle traveling with Khatami said he was not very concerned about the that Governor Mitt Romney called him a ``terrorist" and forbade the State Police from protecting him. during his Bay State visit. Despite all the controversy, Khatami said he enjoyed his tour of the United States, which he called "a great country."

West Always Perceived Khatami as Liberal

The West always perceived Khatami as a leader of the liberal wing of the Iranian society, and first of all students, Armenian political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, when commenting on the isseu of a US visa to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.

In his words, during Khatami's Presidency in Iran, especially during the first tenure, there was thaw in US-Iran relations. "Washington probably remembers differences between Khatami and ayatollah Khamenei, arisen at the time. Although Khatami lately made a few harsh statements, addressed to the US, Washington apparently views him as a potential leader of a democratic movement. Favor towards him, in the opinion of American strategists, should signal and stimulate proponents of democratic changes in the country. It is another attempt to split the Iranian society," the political scientist said.

Mohammad Khatami addresses violence, war, terror

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami spoke to an invited group of approximately 140 faculty, students and friends of the University Thursday afternoon. In a speech titled "Religion and Democracy," he discussed the issue of ending violence, war and terror worldwide.

The event was sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and its Center on Religion and Democracy.

Center Executive Director James Davison Hunter noted in his introductory remarks that Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and Declaration of Independence "were revolutionary innovations designed to increase the possibility of human flourishing." Hunter said his Institute sponsored Khatami's address in order to further the goal of "taking on this Jeffersonian burden for our time and our circumstances."

Though Khatami delivered his address in Farsi with the assistance of a translator, he greeted the audience with a few words in English and apologized for presenting his speech in another language.

Khatami discussed how the threat of violence can be contained, both in theory and in action.

Khatami said violence is an outcome of the rationale that "whoever is not with us, is against us."

Khatami said, however, there is hope for peace because the world has a strong unity of opinion regarding fundamental issues facing the world today, including the problem of security and the destructive power of sanctified violence.

Dialogue among civilizations can also allow for "the opening of the sphere of rationality and morality in confrontation with force and violence," Khatami said.

Such dialogues should focus on several key goals, including the improvement of the present state of affairs among religions and cultures and civilizations, the realization of the shared goals of humanity and the recognition of justice as the key to ending conflict, Khatami added.

Khatami addressed his support for Hezbollah during a question-and-answer session following his remarks.

Mohammed Khatami characterized Hezbollah as a resistance movement, not a terrorist organization. "For the last 10 years, they have not proven an action that Hezbollah has committed that falls under the definition of terrorism," he said; adding that Hezbollah "only has the right to exist while occupation is still around."

"Hizbollah is a symbol of Arab resistance and that groups or nations fighting oppression could not be equated with terrorists." . . . "Today the resistance the French showed in the face of German attack is not condemned," he said.

Khatami said there was a difference between those who "strive for the territorial integrity of a country and those who kill only to kill.".

Khatami, a reformist who was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005 also denied Iran financed terrorist groups, contradicting assertions by the United States.

Replying to the same student, who repeated allegations that Khatami's government had financed terrorists, Khatami replied: "Are you sure I gave hundreds of millions in aid to terrorists? I assure you this has not happened and will not happen."

Khatami denied that Iran funds Hezbollah but said Iran has advised and counseled Hezbollah to become a part of civil society.

Hezbollah "has done a lot of work in the ... development of civil society in Lebanon in general," Khatami said, noting this development aids the democratization of Lebanon.

Khatami also said Hezbollah can provide protection against threats to Lebanon until the Lebanese army strengthens.

Khatami also addressed other issues, including the negative media image of Iran presented internationally.

"Unfortunately, the face that is shown of Iran is not the right kind of image," Khatami said. "Our president has told Mr. Bush that the time has come for putting aside hegemonic talk and the talk of power" in order to engage in a proper dialogue.

Mohammad Khatami urged the United States and Iran to step back from the brink of confrontation. "Today we are faced with an astounding situation that seriously threatens both the East and the West," he warned a packed and mostly welcoming audience. "One should not engage in violence in the name of any religion, just as one should not and ought not turn the world into one's military camp in the name of democracy."

Khatami said he never endorsed the call by Iran's current hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to "wipe" Israel off the map. He said he opposes the systematic elimination of any people. "The Jews have a right to live in peace and control their destinies," he said.

"We must not forget that for the last 50 years, in theory and in practice, a nation known as Palestine has been eliminated from the map.", he said.

"So long as we are thinking killing and eliminating we will not find a solution from our problems," Khatami added. "We should not be thinking about how we can kill each other better. We should be thinking about how we can live and coexist together."

"I have very good friends among the Jews. And I am against violence. It doesn't matter if it comes from a Jew, Muslim of Christian."

He said the United States needed to be more fair in its approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"As long as the forces in the region believe that America is biased toward one of the parties, America cannot act as a mediator," he said.

In response to another question, Khatami also justified his country’s use of capital punishment for acts of homosexuality, but said that the conditions for execution are so strict that they are "virtually impossible to meet."

"Homosexuality is a crime in Islam and crimes are punishable," he added "Punishment is seen as a response to violence or deviance. If there is no punishment in a society, society cannot run." . . . "And the fact that a crime could be punished by execution is debatable." Khatami said.

The audience responded with silence to his remark.

Khatami also answered a question about whether it would be best for Iraqis if American troops were to stay or leave.

Khatami said the Americans removed Iran's greatest enemy, Saddam Hussein, but "the method by which this was done is not acceptable."

Khatami said, however, that if peace is to be achieved, the current Iraqi government cannot be left in the hands of insurgents.

"If America said it wants to leave Iraq tomorrow, I would say, 'No, don't do it,'" he said.

--------------------------------

Sources: Cavalier Daily, The Boston Globe, The Crimson.

Mohammad Khatami: Suicide bombers hurt Islam

(Reuters): Former Iranian President Mohammed 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 Shi'ite cleric urged Muslims to work against "Islamaphobia," which he said had grown since Islamic militants flew hijacked aircraft into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

Two crimes were committed on September 11 -- civilians were killed and it was done in the name of Islam, Khatami told the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a human rights group.

"We Muslims should condemn these atrocities even more strongly," he said.

"Terrorist, which means killing of civilians, is a human being that lacks morality ... (and) will not go to heaven" and those who do it in the name of Islam "are lying," he said.

TIME interview with Mohammad Khatami

Khatami: American "Conceit and Pride" Led to Iraq Mess

In a TIME interview, the former Iranian President says the Iraq war could have been avoided, and endorses a "two-state" solution to the Middle East conflict.

(Time.com) By ADAM ZAGORIN / WASHINGTON

After Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad challenged President Bush to a televised debate last week — and again warned the U.S. not to impose sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program — the White House approved his proposed September visit to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. A few days before, over the objections of conservative Republicans and after a spirited Administration debate, the U.S. approved a visit to several U.S. cities by Iran's former president, Mohammad Khatami — the highest-ranking Iranian to tour since President Carter severed relations with Iran in 1979.

Khatami, 62, served eight years as president before leaving office in 2005, and he remains close to Iran's powerful Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameini. Khatami, whose trip is designed to foster a "dialogue between civilizations," spoke to TIME for more than an hour this week in a heavily guarded Washington hotel suite. As the most prominent of his nation's reformers, he repeatedly distanced himself from many of the hardline views of Iran's current leadership, but strongly criticized the U.S. for what he suggested is "arrogance" in Iraq. He also cited human-rights violations at both Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, and warned of the "costs" of a U.S. or Israeli military strike on his country. But he endorsed a "two-state solution" to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and called the Holocaust a "historical fact." Excerpts:

TIME: This is your first visit to Washington. What do you think of the country that has been called the Great Satan?

Khatami: I never say "Great Satan." But I get really upset when Iran is called part of the "Axis of Evil." Even [Ayatollah] Khomeini [who coined the phrase] was referring only to U.S. policies — not to the American people or America itself, which is a great and big country.

TIME: Do you accept a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel? And does the government of Iran accept that?

Khatami: My opposition to Israel is moral. The peaceful solution to the problem of Palestine is to recognize Palestinian rights. This is the only way there could be sustained peace in the region.

TIME: And a Palestinian state to exist alongside Israel?

Khatami: Yes.

TIME: Your successor [as president of Iran] has said that the Holocaust did not happen. How do you explain that?

Khatami: I personally believe that he really didn't deny the existence of Holocaust. I believe the Holocaust is the crime of Nazism. But it is possible that the Holocaust, which is an absolute fact, a historical fact, would be misused. The Holocaust should not be, in any way, an excuse for the suppression of Palestinian rights.

TIME: Bruce Laingen was the top American diplomat held hostage in Iran in 1979-80. And he has publicly raised a question in connection with your visit: What does the government of Iran owe the American hostages? And he's not talking about money. Morally?

Khatami: I regret the hostage crisis, hostage-taking. And I sympathize with the hostages and their families for their loss and their hurt. But this was [also] a revolutionary reaction to half a century of the U.S. taking Iran hostage. Maybe the other side [the U.S.] would be more indebted [to Iran].

TIME: Is there a civil war in Iraq?

Khatami: We are really concerned about this, but [there is no civil war], not yet.

TIME: Should Iraq be divided into Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish zones?

Khatami: Definitely a bad idea. Iraq should remain unified. The solution is a democratic state. Numerically, the country is majority Shi'ite, but the government is not yet sectarian. The president is a Kurd. The head of the government is a Shi'ite. The Sunnis have great, effective participation. So the breakup of Iraq is very dangerous. A democratic state can prevent from this from taking place.

TIME: President Bush's father did not occupy Iraq. What about the occupation of Iraq now?

Khatami: I don't know what President Bush, the father, would have done. But I know that eliminating Saddam [Hussein] has been to our benefit, to the benefit of Iran. I also predicted that getting into Iraq would be very easy [for America], but getting out of it would be extremely difficult. And today, Saddam is gone but Iraq has become the center stage of extremism and radicalism.

TIME: If you had any advice for the current President Bush, what would it be?

Khatami: The President should dispense peace and justice and reconciliation across the world. I believe that not only have U.S. policies not stopped terrorism, they have actually exacerbated and increased the problem.

TIME: Why?

Khatami: We could have resolved the Iraq issue without invasion and occupation without the cost in terms of human life, American lives, Iraqi lives and money. This could have been resolved. If the U.S. had not had such a sense of conceit and pride, or maybe even arrogance.

TIME: And the withdrawal of U.S. troops?

Khatami: The occupation should end as soon as possible [but] I believe we cannot just leave this newly born democratic government to the hands of terrorists, insurgents and people who are seeking violence. The best way is to strengthen and to support the government, its security services, its police forces, and the best way to do that is also to get help from neighboring countries. The U.S. should know that it could get the help of Arab and Islamic countries to secure its interests,rather than without them.

TIME: The U.S. has accused Iran of trying to build a nuclear weapon, and Iran has denied this. Is there a way out?

Khatami: Concern about proliferation is definitely justified. But in this region there are three states that possess nuclear weapons, with hundreds of warheads. The biggest [arsenal] is Israel. And then Pakistan and India. If there are serious concerns about nuclear weapons, we should start by eliminating those that already exist. And the U.S. does not display any sensitivity whatsoever to these issues, to these nuclear weapons. None of the three have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but Iran has. Iran has the right to have access to nuclear energy. And we are ready to give every guarantee that we would use this for peaceful purposes. Our leader has issued a decree prohibiting the production and the stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction.

TIME: Do you believe that a military attack on Iran, either by Israel or the U.S., is a possibility that Iran should take seriously and guard against?

Khatami: Any aggression against Iran would have costs, serious costs for the U.S., more than for Iran. Public opinion in the world, and a great majority of the American public, would not support a military engagement.

TIME: Anything else?

Khatami: In Iran, whenever the issue is Iran's territorial integrity, no political faction, no political group would have any doubt as to defending Iran's actions. This unity and national consensus would be really costly for the invader and aggressor.

TIME: President Bush has promised that the U.S. will try to impose sanctions on Iran through the Security Council in the near future, if this matter is not resolved. What would be the result?

Khatami: Experience has shown that threats, pressure and coercion has never created a solution, has never made sanctions effective. Sanctions, and even more than that, possible military action and the use of force, would create more crisis in Iran, for the region, and for the world.

TIME: Do you believe Hizballah won the war in Lebanon?

Khatami: I would say Israel lost the war. Israel has fought Arabs many times. It could even defeat, in six days, three or four Arab armies. But, you know, confronting Hizballah, it couldn't achieve any of those objectives. Unfortunately, U.S. rushed into defending Israel, wholeheartedly.

TIME: How do you explain charges from the U.S. and other critics that there were human rights violations, terrorism and a buildup of Iran's nuclear program when you were president?

Khatami: I don't claim that there have never been human rights violations in Iran, but I [also] believe human rights are being violated everywhere, with different names. I believe the violation of rights of prisoners in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib is not compatible — everybody should condemn the violation of human rights, everywhere. Double standards will not help.

TIME: When you were president of Iran, you used to complain, publicly, that you couldn't implement some of your reforms domestically and you couldn't take certain actions in foreign policy. Who stopped you? Was it hardliners who are now in control of Iran?

Khatami: I think democracy is a process. And this is especially [true] when there is external pressure, and dangers, the threat to the internal integrity of the nation. Definitely, there are people who have been theoretically against me, but when a major power explicitly says that it intends to overthrow a government...

TIME: Are you talking about the U.S.?

Khatami: Let me not [use] names. Those who officially put in their budgets money to overthrow the Iranian government — it's natural that the constraints on freedom and openness will increase as a result of a security environment [like that].

-----------------------------

Copyright © 2006 Time Inc. All rights reserved.

Speaking at CAIR, Khatami Blasts Wave of 'Islamophobia'

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - 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: Five Years After 9/11."

Khatami is visiting the United States for two weeks, coming to this Washington suburb after two days in the nation's capital. Unlike at an appearance Thursday night in the Washington National Cathedral, no protesters were evident outside the hotel where he spoke. Multiple marked and unmarked security vehicles were outside, and a segment of Jefferson Davis Highway, a main Arlington artery, was shut down while he was there. At least one helicopter swooped repeatedly over the area.

Khatami, the most senior Iranian to visit Washington in a quarter-century, spoke in front of American and Iranian flags, draped in each other's folds.


The talk broke no new ground for Khatami, considered a reformist during his two terms as president that ended last year. He was among the first foreign leaders to condemn the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He told his audience through an interpreter that in conditions that have followed the Sept. 11 attacks, American Muslims should show their countrymen by example that they, not terrorists, represent Islam.

"Demonstrate to others that whatever is said about Islam in the media is not correct" and combat the "wave of Islamophobia and hatred of Islam that we unfortunately are experiencing today," he said.

He laid out three goals for Muslims: "Your responsibility and our responsibility is to be first a good citizen in whatever country you live; to try for yourself and your children to move up the ladder of social achievement and education; and third is to fight the vague Islamophobia that has been created by those who don't have the best interests of Islam at heart."

He said "killers who go among others and kill others in acts of terror, if they identify themselves with Islam, they are lying. You Muslims who live in the United States should be representatives of enlightenment and don't allow those who create this Islamophobia" to speak for the religion.

Mohammad Khatami: Iraq centrestage of extremism

HindustanTimes.com: Sharply criticising the US, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has charged that it was the American "conceit" and "arrogance" that led to the current "mess" in Iraq, which has become a "centrestage of extremism and radicalism."

However, he distanced himself from many of the hardline views of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but warned the US and Israel against any strikes, saying it would cost heavily.

Khatami, in an interview to Time magazine, endorsed the two-state solution to achieve peace between Israel and Palestinians and called Holocaust a "historical fact."

Replying to a question, he said removal of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power has been proved to be of benefit to Iran.

"I also predicted that getting into Iraq would be very easy (for America), but getting out of it would be extremely difficult. And today, Saddam is gone but Iraq has become the centrestage of extremism and radicalism."

But he rejected the suggestion that Iraq is now witnessing a civil war and also strongly opposed the idea of partitioning Iraq in three parts -- Shia, Sunni and Kurd.

"Definitely a bad idea. Iraq should remain unified. The solution is a democratic state. Numerically, the country is majority Shiite, but the government is not yet sectarian.

The President is a Kurd. The head of the government is a Shiite. The Sunnis have great, effective participation. So the breakup of Iraq is very dangerous. A democratic state can prevent this from taking place," he said.

"We could have resolved Iraq issue without invasion and occupation without the cost in terms of human life, American lives, Iraqi lives and money... If US had not had such a sense of conceit and pride or maybe arrogance," Iraq could have been spared of the current "mess", he said.

"The best way is to strengthen and to support the government, its security services, its police forces, and the best way to do that is also to get help from neighbouring countries.

The US should know that it could get the help of Arab and Islamic countries to secure its interests, rather than without them."

During the hour-long interview, Khatami, who served as President for eight years before leaving office in 2005, said he has never called the United States 'Great Satan.'

"But I get really upset when Iran is called part of the 'Axis of Evil.' Even (Ayatollah) Khomeini (who coined the phrase 'Great Satan') was referring only to US policies - not to the American people or America itself, which is a great and big country," he said.

Replying to a question, he said opposition to Israel is moral. "The peaceful solution to the problem of Palestine is to recognise Palestinian rights. This is the only way there could be sustained peace in the region."

Asked about denial of Holocaust by the Iranian President, Khatami said "I believe the Holocaust is the crime of Nazism.

Mohammad Khatami: 9/11 attackers will not go to heaven

According to AFP, Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has condemned the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and said those who carried them out will never go to heaven.

"During the calamity of September 11, two crimes were committed: one was the killing of innocent people and the second was making this crime in the name of Islam," said the former president, who is on a speaking tour of the United States.

"We, Muslims, should condemn this atrocity even more strongly," Khatami told the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"Terrorism, which means killing civilians in whatever name or title, lacks morality, and nobody who lacks such principle will go to heaven," Khatami continued. "Those who kill others and commit acts of terror, if they identify themselves with Islam, they are lying."

Americans mark the fifth anniversary of the attacks on Monday.

In change of tone, Bush interested in 'learning more' about Iran

President Bush personally signed off on granting a US visa to Iran's ex President Khatami

by Maxim Kniazkov AFP

US President George W. Bush, striking a rare conciliatory note toward a state he has included in an "axis of evil," has said that he was "interested in learning more" about Iran and its government.

With US diplomats trying to drum up support for new sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program, Bush underscored the importance of channels of communication -- and disclosed that he had personally signed off on granting a US visa to former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.

The former moderate Iranian leader, known for his diplomatic entreaties to the Bill Clinton administration, has been on a speaking tour of the United States this week.

"I was interested to hear what he had to say," Bush told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. "I'm interested in learning more about the Iranian government, how they think, what people think within the government."

..........

"And in order for diplomacy to work, it's important to hear voices other than current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's," Bush pointed out.

The remarks contrasted with the US president's statement just last Tuesday when he branded Iran's president a "tyrant."

.........

Khatami is the most prominent Iranian to visit the United States since the Washington broke off diplomatic relations with Iran 1979, after radical Islamic students occupied the US Embassy in Tehran and held 53 US diplomats hostage for 444 days.

In speeches in interviews delivered during the US tour, Khatami appeared to attempt to smooth over tensions and emphasize the language of reconciliation.

He urged the two countries to stop trading threats and restart dialogue while insisting that a freeze on Iranian nuclear activities could be discussed during negotiations.

There have been unconfirmed reports Khatami might meet with former US president Jimmy Carter, who has played a mediating role in the past.

Although Bush has not attended any of Khatami's speeches, his interview indicates he is well aware of their content.

When asked to comment on Khatami's remarks that the United States will not be able to take strong action against Iran because it is bogged down in Iraq, Bush replied: "Well, he also said it's very important for the coalition troops to stay in Iraq so that there is a stable government on the Iranian border."

-----------------------

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse.

Romney's accusation on Khatami disputed

"It was not Khatami, It was his opponents conducting human rights abuses."

By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff

The groups said Khatami was a moderate among Iranian leaders who worked largely in vain to expand political freedoms in Iran, which is controlled by Muslim clerics working with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei . The violent crackdowns on democracy protesters during Khatami's time as president -- 1997 to 2005 -- were believed to have been initiated by rivals of the president and approved by Iran's ruling clerics, they said.

In addition, Romney failed to provide documentation for his claim that "Khatami has endorsed [current President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad's call for the annihilation of Israel." The Iranian government has long maintained that Israel was established illegally, but Ahmadinejad's call to "wipe Israel off the map" was widely seen as a dangerous provocation.

Romney's spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, cited four statements by Khatami that were sharply critical of Israel, but all predated Ahmadinejad's remark.

Nonetheless, Romney's stance on Khatami -- and his refusal to allow Massachusetts State Police to protect the former president during his speech tomorrow at Harvard University -- has been widely praised in conservative circles.

Romney, who has been laying the groundwork for a possible 2008 presidential bid, appeared on Fox News and earned plaudits in newspapers . Romney "gets it," The Washington Times declared. The Conservative Voice called him a "patriotic Republican."

Fehrnstrom said Khatami should be held responsible for abuses during his presidency.

"Presidents should not be allowed to divorce themselves from the policies of their own country," he said. "He was president during the largest crackdown on the Iranian media since the beginning of the Iranian revolution. He was president when Iranian Jews were sent to prison on charges of espionage. He was president when thousands of university students were arrested after the 1999 student rioting."

Fehrnstrom cited "Iranian dissidents" as the source of the allegations that Khatami had overseen the murder and torture of democratic activists.

But Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the New Haven-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center -- three leading groups monitoring human rights abuses in Iran -- all disputed aspects of Romney's depiction of Khatami's offenses, as did many academic specialists on Iran.

"That is an exaggeration to say that he oversaw the absues. That is definitely wrong," said Hadi Ghaemi , Iran researcher for Human Rights Watch, based in New York. "The judiciary and the forces close to the Supreme Leader oversaw that . . . [Khatami] was not the one leading those abuses. It was his opponents."

And both Zahir Janmohamed , advocacy director for Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, and Jasmine Samara, spokeswoman for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, said their groups had researched the abuses committed during Khatami's presidency, but none could be traced to him personally.

"Khatami is part of a larger state machinery," Janmohamed said. "It could very well be that the orders to imprison these students came from the supreme leader."

In his statement to the media explaining his decision to revoke State Police protection for Khatami, Romney accused Khatami of acting in concert with the hard-liners, luring students into protesting only to crack down on their activities.

"Khatami oversaw the torture and murder of Iranian students, journalists, and others who spoke out for freedom and democracy," Romney said. "Khatami relaxed freedom of speech laws giving democracy reformers a false sense of security only to engage in one of the largest crackdowns in the country's history."

But academics across the political spectrum took issue with that account.

"That is not the view of most Iran experts," said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East specialist at the Congressional Research Service, a research arm of Congress. "I think most experts on Iran would say that Khatami attempted to stop many human rights abuses but did not prevail politically."

Shaul Bakhash , professor of Middle East History at George Mason University and a prominent Iran specialist , said Romney's assertion does not "accord with the facts."

"To say of Khatami that he oversaw the arrest and torture implies that he was directly complicit. I don't think anyone believes that's the case," he said. "You might argue that he was not firm enough or that he did not have enough backbone, but it is hard to argue that he was complicit. . . . I don't think the facts really are in dispute."

-----------------------------

Source: The Boston Globe

At Cathedral, Iran's Khatami Urges Dialogue

Mohammad Khatami: "Jesus is the prophet of kindness and peace. Muhammad is the prophet of ethics, morality and grace. Moses is the prophet of dialogue and exchange, It's good at the present time, where war, violence and repression is so prevalent across the world, for all of us who are followers of God's religion to pursue all efforts for the establishment of peace and security."

By Robin Wright, Washington Post Staff Writer

Washington Post: Amid noisy protests and tight security, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami issued a call at the Washington National Cathedral yesterday for leaders in both the West and the Islamic world to launch a historic dialogue to "rescue life from the claws of the warmongers and violence-seekers and ostentatious leaders."

But Khatami, who served as president between 1997 and 2005, signaled that the time is not yet right for direct dialogue between the United States and Iran. He warned that the language of threats needs to end for any negotiation to have a chance -- an indirect reference to U.S. and U.N. pressure to impose new sanctions on Iran because of disputes over its nuclear program.

The former Iranian leader, who was elected on a reform platform but failed to deliver significant change, called the United States a "great" country "with great people, great capacities, and potential" -- language that stood in stark contrast to more than a quarter-century of Iran calling the United States "the Great Satan."

But he also condemned its unilateral foreign policy, and he cautioned at a news conference before last night's speech that Washington would be more effective if it worked alongside other nations.

Khatami, who is a mid-level Shiite cleric and wears the black turban of a descendant of the prophet Muhammad, focused heavily on religious themes and the need for the three Abrahamic faiths -- Judaism, Islam and Christianity -- to work together.

"Jesus is the prophet of kindness and peace. Muhammad is the prophet of ethics, morality and grace. Moses is the prophet of dialogue and exchange," he said. "It's good at the present time, where war, violence and repression is so prevalent across the world, for all of us who are followers of God's religion to pursue all efforts for the establishment of peace and security."

Khatami said he was not concerned about the vitriolic criticism that his five-city speaking tour of the United States has prompted in Iran. "If you want to accept to live in a democratic state, a democratic society, we have to tolerate the voices of dissent," he said.

Pressed on Iran's abuses, Khatami said he would not deny that his country has serious problems, but he cautioned that democracy is a "process" that cannot reverse centuries of despotic rule overnight. Iran was ruled by various dynasties for some 2,500 years.

As Khatami spoke inside the limestone Gothic cathedral, hundreds of diplomatic security agents, including their own SWAT teams, surrounded the church grounds.

On the other side of Wisconsin Avenue, a crowd of about 200 shouted, "Shame on you," as invitees waited to pass through security and enter the cathedral gates. Khatami spoke before an audience of 1,300.

Police cars lined up in front of the crowd and helicopters with searchlights circled overhead, but there were no incidents reported and no noticeable traffic delays from the protest.

The visit prompted condemnation not only in some Iranian circles but also from some lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

At a news conference yesterday morning organized by Iranian dissidents, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) announced that he planned to mark Khatami's visit by introducing the Iran Human Rights Act, to ensure that the United States supports opposition groups.

........... Before coming to the cathedral, Khatami spoke yesterday in Charlottesville at the University of Virginia, where he excoriated the idea of dividing the world into "us and them."

"This 'us' is a small circle encompassing a few that have the right to arrive at any verdict they please regarding the ones they consider 'the other.' They can force this 'other' to submit to their whims or even eliminate 'the other' altogether," Khatami said.

--------------------------

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

Mohammad Khatami speaks on nukes, Jews, human rights

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Dialogue and negotiation are the only ways to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, but first "we have to eliminate the language of threat," said former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Thursday, amid a two-week visit to the U.S.

Iran's nuclear program, which began during Khatami's tenure, is aimed solely at peaceful purposes, not nuclear weapons, he said, reiterating the stance held by the Islamic republic since its program came under international scrutiny.

"Building nuclear technology is very different from building nuclear weapons," Khatami told reporters during an appearance at Washington's National Cathedral. Nuclear technology, he said, "could be very helpful and beneficial to humankind."

Iran is a signer of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Khatami said ensures that member nations have the right to develop peaceful nuclear technology.

"At the present time, the [International Atomic Energy Agency] has not found any evidence that Iran has not pursued a peaceful nuclear program," Khatami said. "On the contrary, there are three states in our region which possess nuclear weapons. At least, there are 200 nuclear warheads in Israel, and fewer than those exist in India and Pakistan. None of these are members to the NPT and none of them are under any safeguard."

Those states should join the NPT, he said. With safeguards, "we could prevent other states from pursuing and acquiring these capabilities," Khatami said.

Dialogue should be the primary means of settling differences over Iran's nuclear program, and the details -- including whether the Islamic republic should suspend its nuclear activities -- can be sorted out later, he said.

"I believe that's the best recourse, to talk and negotiate," Khatami said.

China, Russia and France have all indicated their willingness to talk with Iran about its nuclear program without preconditions, he said.

Later Thursday, a couple hundred protesters gathered outside the National Cathedral, where Khatami was delivering a speech on religion. The protesters carried signs and banners with slogans such as, "No dialogue, no war, only regime change" and "Free all political prisoners in Iran."

Khatami is not meeting with any U.S. officials during his visit. The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Iran, and Khatami is the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit the U.S. since the 1979 revolution that propelled the Islamic government to power.

If Khatami were granted an audience with U.S. officials, he would tell them "we have to eliminate the language of threat" and that violence and threats of violence "will increase and exacerbate the problem," Khatami said.

Road to democracy

Iran is making progress on the road to democracy, but it should not be compared to nations that are farther down that road, he said.

"What exists and has existed in Iran for many years is a tradition of coexistence and tolerance," he said. "What exists at the international level, unfortunately, is based on intolerance."

"I believe that within the standards of the Western world, American standards, we are doing a lot better than some other countries that exist in the region," he added.

Khatami conceded that he has faced criticism for his visit not only from Americans -- including Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who said he would expend no state resources on Khatami's protection -- but also from members of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration.

A Jewish human rights group also collected 14,000 signatures on a petition opposing the U.S. decision to grant Khatami a visa.

"If you want to accept to live in a democratic state and a democratic society, you have to tolerate the voices of dissent," he said. "Democracy is a process, not a project."

Addressing accusations that Iran engages in human rights violations, Khatami acknowledged that Iran is not perfect, but he also pointed out that the U.S., too, faces similar accusations for its operations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba.

"First, let's condemn the violation of human rights, wherever it takes place," he said.

Khatami also said that he "absolutely" does not believe that Jews are different from other humans, but some Christians and Jews consider themselves superior to others and commit crimes in the name of religion, much like Muslim extremists.

On Sunday, a day before the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Khatami is scheduled to visit Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he will address the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

The State Department will provide security for Khatami because it is the "smart and prudent thing to do," said spokesman Sean McCormack.

Mohammad Khatami calls for an end to threats at Washington's National Cathedral

AFP reported: Standing in the National Cathedral where US presidents have spoken, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said that threats must end for dialogue to be restored between Washington and Tehran.

The most senior Iranian to visit the US capital since relations broke off in 1979 told reporters that aggressive rhetoric should end before top US and Iranian officials can meet.

"Before we can talk and engage in dialogue we have to eliminate the language of threat -- for this dialogue to be successful," Khatami, who was president from 1997-2005, said through an interpreter.

"Relations between our respective governments should be resolved through dialogue," said Khatami, who arrived in the United States last week.

"Using violent language by every side is not conducive to dialogue and would exacerbate the problem," he added.

Khatami, considered a reformist, has visited Chicago and will speak at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sunday. He will not meet with US officials, but the US State Department has provided security for his trip.

The United States broke off relations with Iran after the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 during which Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

His visit has been criticized by US lawmakers and Jewish groups.

Scores of protesters shouted "Freedom for Iran" oustide the Cathedral late Thursday and booed people on their way to hear Khatami speak.

Washington branded Iran a state sponsor of terrorism during Khatami's tenure and US President George W. Bush famously said in 2002 that Iran was part of an "axis of evil," along with Saddam Hussein's Iraq and North Korea.

The Episcopalian-run Cathedral defended its decision to invite Khatami. "We recognize him as a moderate voice for reconciliation," said Cathedral spokesman Greg Rixon.

The cleric's visit comes as the Bush administration seeks UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its refusal to stop controversial nuclear work.

Iran failed to meet an August 31 deadline, laid out in a UN resolution, to freeze uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear reactor fuel but also atomic bomb material.

The five permanent Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany have offered to open negotiations to give Iran trade, security and technology benefits, on condition that it suspend uranium enrichment.

Khatami said the freezing of nuclear activities could be discussed during negotiations but that its suspension should not be a pre-condition to talks.

"During the course of negotiations we could even talk about suspension, the nature of suspension, the timing of suspension and the duration of suspension," he said.

After speaking with reporters, Khatami, wearing a black robe with a black turban, delivered an address on interfaith dialogue as he stood in the nave of the Cathedral.

He was applauded and several people gave him a standing ovation after his remarks.

The Cathedral has been used to mark dramatic events in US history, from national prayer services to remember the victims of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina, to president Ronald Reagan's state funeral in 2004. Bush and other presidents have spoken at the Cathedral.

The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane said he hoped the Khatami's visit could be a turning point in diplomacy.

"His presence among us presents the real hope for an emerging, constructive dialogue at the highest international level," Chane said after Khatami's address.

---------------------------------------------

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

Mohammad Khatami to speak in Rotunda

Security tight for Khatami

By Aaron Kessler / Daily Progress staff writer
Daily Progress.com: 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.

The security surrounding the event will be robust. The effort will be headed up by the U.S Department of State, with Virginia state police as well as Charlottesville and Albemarle County police also involved. Police will set up a perimeter around the Rotunda during the event, although UVa officials would not say how far it would extend. Capt. Michael A. Coleman of the UVa police department said he could not comment on security arrangements related to the visit.

The speech will also be beamed live to the Newcomb Hall Theater, which will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 11:30 a.m., and will later be made available over the university’s Web site.

Abdulaziz Sachedina, a UVa professor of religious studies, is largely responsible for bringing Khatami to Charlottesville. Sachedina, who has known the former Iranian leader since they met at a 1982 conference in Tehran, said the invitation was extended about three months ago, once it was known Khatami would be visiting the United Nations.

"He agreed to come [to UVa] if he would be allowed to," Sachedina said.

Because Khatami would be traveling to the United Nations at the request of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he would be confined to New York City only, unless the State Department granted him a visa to travel elsewhere within the country. Sachedina said a quiet campaign to lobby White House officials began that included not just those connected to UVa, but also top clergy at the National Cathedral in Washington, where Khatami will speak later this afternoon.

"We found out about 10 days ago that it would happen," Sachedina said. "Since then, things have been moving very fast."

He said organizers of Khatami's visit to Charlottesville, which include UVa's Institute for Advanced Studies of Culture, originally hoped to hold the speech at the Cabell Hall auditorium or possibly even University Hall, where large numbers of people would be able to attend - but the State Department put the kibosh on those notions. They weren't going to be responsible for checking up on hundreds or even thousands of people. Therefore, the Rotunda, with its small venue, was chosen.

"We didn't really have a choice, if we wanted him to come, we were told this was the way it had to be," Sachedina said.

As for what the former Iranian president will discuss, he said Khatami, whom he described as a moderate compared with Iran’s more radical elements, will speak about "how to control violence in the name of religion."

"People should be talking to one another, rather than simply showing their power," he said. "Khatami has the kind of vision for the world that is needed."

...............

UVa officials say that have not heard of any organized demonstrations planned against the speech, as are expected in Washington later today to coincide with Khatami's appearance there. Dean of Students Peggy Rue said UVa will be prepared for any protests that may take place.

Khatami will immediately head to Washington after today’s event. But he will return to Charlottesville on Saturday to tour Monticello.

Wayne Mogielnicki, director of communications for Monticello, said Khatami will tour the house and have a private lunch with about 20 people Saturday morning. As a result, the site will be closed to visitors between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Albemarle County police Lt. John Teixeira said his department will have numerous officers helping provide security for the Monticello visit, although he declined to elaborate. Teixeira said although Saturday is also the home opener for UVa football, the game and Khatami could both be dealt with.

"We'll be able to do it," he said. "That's what we get paid for."

The federal government will not reimburse the county police for the cost of additional staff needed for Khatami’s visit, he said.

Bush administration shrugs off Khatami visit

Dismisses goodwill D.C. trip by most senior Iranian official since 1979

According to an AP report: WASHINGTON - A former Iranian leader once seen as the harbinger of moderation and better relations with the United States is making the case for dialogue nearly on the doorstep of the White House.

President Bush and his administration are not giving Khatami a warm reception, although the U.S. government is providing and paying for security agents for the former Iranian president. The administration has sworn off serious contact with the Islamic government for now and is pushing for economic penalties over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

The centerpiece of Khatami's visit to Washington was an address and news conference Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, a few miles from the White House.

Speaking Thursday at the University of Virginia, before his Washington appearances, Khatami said that although Iran was glad that Saddam Hussein was removed from power in Iraq, the 2003 U.S.-led invasion went ahead without sufficient regional and international support and has led to increased terrorism and violence.

"The most, I think, horrific picture that emerges is the number of civilians being killed every day in Iraq," Khatami said. Foreign terrorists, he said, "use the American occupation as an excuse for destabilizing Iraq."

----------------------------------

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Harvard dean stands by Khatami invitation

Dialogue with foes called valuable

By Marcella Bombardieri and Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff
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, first proposed by faculty members when they learned that Khatami would be speaking at the United Nations. He said decisions on whether to invite political figures with troubling records are made on a case-by-case basis.

The Kennedy School prides itself on inviting important figures from across the political spectrum, domestic and international. Romney has appeared there, along with other conservatives such as former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Recent speakers on the Middle East have included Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights activist who received the Nobel Peace Prize, and Daniel Ayalon, the Israeli ambassador to the United States.

Meanwhile, Romney stepped up his criticism of Harvard yesterday, tying a lack of campus outrage against Khatami to what he called a politically-correct attack by some faculty members against former Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers.

"It's a 'blame America,' it's a 'hate America' attitude on the part of some liberals that I think many people find very offensive, myself included," Romney said on WRKO radio yesterday.

He also said Harvard "effectively disinvited" Ronald Reagan from speaking on the university's 350th anniversary in 1986. There was an outcry on campus over rumors that Reagan would be granted an honorary degree. After Harvard decided not to give out any honorary degrees, Reagan declined the invitation.

Graham T. Allison, director of the Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, said he endorsed a staffer's idea of inviting Khatami. Allison noted the grave importance of engaging Iran on its nuclear program.

Allison compared engaging Khatami to Reagan meeting with the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. And he said the Kennedy School Forum allows for tough questioning of visitors. In 1995, for example, the widow of a soldier who died in Vietnam confronted former Defense secretary Robert S. McNamara.

Source: The Boston Globe

Governor's got it wrong on Khatami

By Kaveh Afrasiabi | The Boston Globe

IRAN'S FORMER PRESIDENT, Mohammad Khatami, is scheduled to deliver a lecture this weekend at Harvard University on the topic of "ethics of tolerance in the age of violence," but Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has criticized Khatami as a "terrorist" undeserving of the state's security protection during his brief visit.

Romney may have put himself in the national limelight by taking a stand against Khatami, but he is wrong on several accounts.

First, Khatami has been lavishly praised by various world leaders -- including the late Pope John Paul II, former president of Germany Johannes Rau, theologian Hans Kung, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan -- for his role in initiating the idea of "dialogue among civilizations."

Calling for "replacing hostility and confrontation with discourse and understanding," Khatami unveiled this idea in his address to the General Assembly in September 1998. Following his advice, the UN adopted the year 2001 as the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations and promoted activities aimed "to strengthen solidarity, respect, and tolerance" in the world.

Far from a cliche or a bygone agenda, both the UN and UNESCO have continued with their efforts in promoting the idea of dialogue. In 2005, Annan appointed Khatami as a member of a high-calibered group of notables called "Alliance of Civilizations."

To ignore the significance of Khatami's message of tolerance and reciprocal understanding and call him a terrorist, as Romney has done, is an unjustified affront that overlooks Khatami's other legacy as the first Muslim leader who forecefully condemned the ``barbaric" atrocities in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.

Khatami has also spoken against the "myth of Holocaust" rhetoric from Iran's current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and has called the Holocaust a "tragic historical reality."

A former minister of culture who was forced to resign in 1992 because of his moderate sensibility, Khatami has a remarkable record as president of Iran for eight years. Sure, he did not have much power and was constantly under siege by the more militant factions. However, he did his best to advance the cause of civil society in Iran, by promoting free press, women's rights, and the like.

In retrospect, the "failure" of reform movement in Iran had much to do with the post-9/11 Iranian security paranoia caused by President Bush's interventionist policies in the region, causing a hard-line backlash against Khatami's perceived politics of appeasement, vis-à-vis the United States. However, Khatami is increasingly playing a leading role in resurrecting the reform movement by setting aside his previous misgivings to get directly involved in party politics -- a good sign for the future of Iran's faction-ridden politics and the prospects for next rounds of parliamentary and presidential elections in Iran.

Finally, in his current tour of the United States, Khatami has reminded people that his administration agreed to suspend the uranium enrichment program and has called for a more conciliatory approach by Iran's nuclear negotiation team. This has caused vehement criticism by militants in Iran, with some calling for his ``defrocking" upon his return.

Unfortunately, Romney's one-dimensional assessment of Khatami, ignoring the protean value of Khatami's message of tolerance and cross-cultural understanding, puts him in company with the voices of intolerance who wish to silence Khatami. Romney may want to take a cue from Khatami's observation: ``The political translation of Dialogue Among Civilizations would mean that culture, morality, and art must prevail over politics."

Khatami deserves a hero's welcome by the governor.

Kaveh Afrasiabi is a former consultant to the UN's Program of Dialogue Among Civilizations and director of the organization Global Interfaith Peace.

---------------------------------

© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.

Former Iranian President Speaks at U.Va.

Charlottesville, Va. (AP) - Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Thursday criticized U.S. foreign policy, which he said has spawned extreme violence and terrorism in the Middle East.

While Iran benefited from Saddam Hussein's removal from power, the U.S. occupation of Iraq has increased terrorism in the region, Khatami told an invitation-only audience at the University of Virginia.

"The most, I think, horrific picture that emerges is the number of civilians being killed every day in Iraq," the black-robed Khatami said through a translator.

Saddam's removal in 2003 was "a great contribution of American policy," said Khatami, Iran's president from 1997 to 2005. "But the method by which it was done was not acceptable by us."

Instead of working with a coalition of six nations neighboring Iraq and the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. and Great Britain pushed ahead with their invasion, which created conditions that spurred terrorists to enter Iraq, he said.

"They use the American occupation as an excuse for destabilizing Iraq," he said. "In Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism and extremism has risen to the level we never have seen before in the region."

On one hand, the U.S. occupation must end so there will be peace in the region, he said. But at the same time, Iraq shouldn't be left in the hands of the insurgents and terrorists.

Khatami's remarks came after a lengthy speech in the Rotunda, the university's landmark structure, designed by Thomas Jefferson and inspired by the Roman Pantheon. The appearance was sponsored by the school's Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

Khatami discussed the role of global violence in the context of western colonialism and the growth of what he called "liberation movements" sprouting up after World War II as a reaction to "the humiliation they had suffered in the hands of the colonialists and hegemonic powers."

"The closed cycle of mutual violence manifested with oppression from one side and terrorism from another, inflaming this inferno and fueling its fires," he said.

After his talk, he addressed his support for the terrorist group Hezbollah, which critics say is an Iranian proxy. Though "Hezbollah loves Iranians and Iranians love Hezbollah, there's no organized link between the two in which Iran plays a role," he said.

He said that Hezbollah won't disarm until the Lebanese army becomes strong enough to defend its nation, and though it's possible to blame Hezbollah for the cause of the recent war with Israel, "one needs to see the other contextual dimensions that need to be taken into consideration."

Khatami's U.Va. appearance was marked by little advance publicity and heavy security, including a black-clad sniper and lookout posted atop the Rotunda's dome. Many students who watched Khatami's caravan of six black Suburbans and state police escorts had no idea who was visiting.

He also was scheduled to tour nearby Monticello, Jefferson's mountaintop home, over the weekend.

US providing Khatami security - Police Pledge to Protect Khatami

According to an AFP report: The US State Department is offering security for former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami during his tour of the United States, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"Our Diplomatic Security Service is providing security services for the former president," McCormack told reporters.

"There's precedent for this," he said. "Former high-ranking officials travelling throughout the United States, we've done this type of thing before."

He did not, however, give the exact reasons the administration decided to offer protection to the former leader of a country the United States considers a primary backer of international terrorism.

"It is something that we thought was prudent to do," he said, adding that the move "in no way changes our policy views with respect to the visit."

"He is not here at our invitation," McCormack said. "He is here at the invitation of private individuals and organizations. We felt as though, however, that it was a prudent step to take to provide the security while he was here."

Police Pledge to Protect Khatami

On the other hand, Harvard Crimson reported, The Kennedy School of Government said today it had secured protection for former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami’s visit to Harvard on Sunday, one day after Massachusetts Governor W. Mitt Romney ordered all state agencies to refuse requests to provide security for the Muslim cleric.

The school will rely on support from the Boston and Cambridge police departments, the U.S. State Department, and Harvard’s own police force when Khatami delivers a speech on the “Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence” at the school’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets to the event are available via a lottery that closes at midnight tonight.

In a statement released this afternoon, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said that the city is complying with a request from the State Department for security “in the interest of general public safety.”

“Boston has an obligation to offer police protection to provide security to Khatami,” Menino said in the statement.

On Tuesday, Romney, who earned joint degrees in business and law from Harvard in 1974, called Harvard’s invitation to the former Iranian leader “a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists.”

Washington Post's interview with Mohammad Khatami

Washington Post: Transcript of Interview with Mohammad Khatami

On Iran's long-term intentions for its peaceful nuclear energy program and the dangers of developing a weapons capability:

The question is why others don't want Iran to have nuclear technology. They can say that we are worried that Iran may divert it to nuclear weaponry. This concern and worry about the proliferation of nuclear weaponry is very justified and thoughtful. This is a good concern to have. And this is why I myself have made the proposal that we must have a nuclear free zone in the region -- I have made this suggestion at the U.N. and other forums.

We were and we still are ready to negotiate in this field. We have looked upon the European package favorably.

Our negotiations with the European-3 and the [International Atomic Energy] Agency were going well until last year, but unfortunately I believe that a power entered these negotiations to set them off track. . . . It is only through negotiations that there can be objective guarantees that Iran is not diverting toward nuclear weaponry and also objective guarantees for Iran that its security and its fuel will be guaranteed into the future.

It is still my belief that we must proceed with negotiations and nothing must be done to increase the misunderstandings. . . . The package has not been rejected and we have said that it is through negotiations that we can reach a final agreement. And the proposals that Iran has made as far as I can see have strong points in them as well. I believe that the situation can best be resolved by not going toward action that could exacerbate the situation.

On the dangers of U.S. military action against Iran:

Of course we must be concerned about any sort of military strike. Especially since I am the promoter of dialogue among civilizations and an alliance based on peace, I am hoping that this will never come to pass.

So far, whenever the United States has tried to solve its disputes through military means, it has not achieved its objectives -- and also not solved the problem it meant to solve.

The elimination of Saddam Hussein from Iraq was more than anything to Iran's benefit. But even then we were of the belief that the solution is not a military occupation of Iraq. Even then my proposal was that the U.S. and the other permanent members of the Security Council meet with Iraq's neighbors to come up with a solution for the country -- the same as with Afghanistan. But during that time America was arrogant and did not accept this proposal. Today the center of terrorism is located in Iraq . . . and America is facing problems in Iraq.

In this situation, because of the experience that the Americans have had with Iraq and because of American public opinion, I don't believe that the Americans will make the big mistake of attacking Iran. Iran is not Iraq.

While an attack on Iran would create great damage for Iran, it would create a crisis in the region and we can't even predict what the outcome would be. The detriment and damage that this would cause for the people of the region -- for the stability of the entire region as well as for America -- will mean that prudence and wisdom will prevail in the end and America will not make the mistake of attacking Iran.

On Israel and the Palestinian conflict:

The practical policy of the Islamic Republic has never been to eliminate or wipe Israel off the map. And I don't believe that this policy has changed with the change of president. We have had a moral principle or core principle that we still believe in, and this principle is in accordance with the new standards of modern diplomacy.

We believe that millions of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes. They are scattered throughout the world without a home. A substantial number of them are born and raised and eventually die in camps. And they don't have the right to return back to their homeland. The U.N. has accepted that alongside Israel a Palestinian state can be created.

We believe that a just peace must prevail in the region. We believe that the rights of the Palestinians, especially those refugee Palestinians, must be taken into account. The Palestinian government must be strengthened. And whenever problems occur, they should not be solved through the military but through negotiation and standards of international conduct so that people of all faiths -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam -- can coexist.

And I'd like to emphasize that it's not our stand on the issue that determines the outcome but what the Palestinians and the people of the region decide.

[Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas and significant portions of Palestinians have expressed that there could be a two-state solution. And Hamas also has an interesting view and when asked: Do you recognize Israel, they ask does Israel recognize us? . . . If we surrender to logic, justice and the realities of the region, I believe that we can find a solution to the problem. . . .

You've never heard me reject the right of anyone to exist.

On U.S.-Iran relations and attempts at diplomatic rapprochement after the 1979-81 hostage drama when 52 Americans were held 444 days:

I did speak of bringing down the wall of mistrust and I took steps, be it small but effective, in this direction. And I believe that the Clinton administration also took steps, albeit small in this direction. And despite the pressure that existed in both societies at the time, I still believe that these two steps could have brought the two sides closer together.

I expressed my regret for the hostage situation. And I said that I understand how the emotions of the American people could have been hurt by this situation and that it was a result of the historical mistrust between our two nations, which Iranians have been feeling for the last 50 years -- that they have been done wrong by America.

We have some time has passed from Iran's revolutionary phase where we were creating these revolutionary organizations. I even expressed my regret for the fact that the U.S. flag was trampled and burned in my country. And during my tenure these actions did not take place. And the Clinton administration also expressed regret for incorrect policies during the coup d'etat onwards [when a CIA-backed plot overthrew the Iranian government in 1953]. I believe that the misunderstandings and mistrust between the two sides [were] so deep that it could not be solved with these simple minor steps. And I believe that pressure that existed on both sides also meant that we had to proceed with caution.

Unfortunately, after the Clinton administration, what came to pass [were] policies that I consider incorrect and that not only deepened the misunderstanding and mistrust between America and Iran but also led to greater aggravation in the region as a whole.

In regards to Afghanistan, we acted prudently and cooperated very wisely with America because we had a common enemy there, the Taliban. . . . What is interesting is that the Americans themselves agreed that if it weren't for the cooperation of Iran, America would have great problems in Afghanistan. But unfortunately right after that, with an incorrect analysis, Iran was labeled a member of the axis of evil.

In Iraq, we also showed a logical approach. Even despite the fact that we were against the military occupation of Iraq, we agreed to the [U.S.-appointed] Governing Council. We agreed with the referendum. We even cooperated with the temporary government. . . . And even though the Shiites are in a majority we did not say a Shiite government must come to power. . . .

Many people active in terrorism in Afghanistan shifted to Iraq and continued their activities there against Iran, its friends and America. And you must seriously ask the U.S. government: Why is it that Iran is still under so much pressure and is attacked so often by the U.S. administration even though it cooperated in this manner? Unfortunately, with these policies, more bricks will only be added to the wall of mistrust.

On the impact of Hezbollah's war with Israel:

Fortunately, Hezbollah's conduct has resulted in its popularity increasing in the entire Islamic world -- both Shiites and Sunni, Egypt, Jordan and elsewhere.

On democracy in the Middle East:

In all Islamic countries we are in need of democratic governments which respect all religions and faiths. . . . The time for racial governments, tribal governments, and sectarian and clique governments is over, and in the entire region we must move toward democracy governments.

On the dangers of civil war in Iraq:

It was the actions of the moral leadership in Iraq, namely Ayatollah Sistani, as well as political leaders in Iraq that has prevented this sectarian violence to a greater extent. . . . With the religious leadership and political leadership, both Shiite and Sunni, as well as the restraint that the Shiites are demonstrating, we pray to God that such a breakout of civil war will be prevented.

We must all seriously and steadfastly strive to prevent such an occurrence. . . . We must address the people who exacerbate this situation, namely the terrorists who take on a religious face. Bu it is my belief that they are members of no faith. We must address these root causes to destroy them.

Even when one is hopeful, one can't help but have concern.

Why visit Monticello?

Jefferson is a character dear to us all. I have the utmost respect for the people of America. I respect [Monticello's] symbol of grandeur.

I would have liked to see other symbols, especially Plymouth Rock and the Thanksgiving ceremony. But unfortunately my schedule doesn't allow it.

---------------------------------

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

Spreading the word in the US

Asia Times - By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami's speaking tour in the United States, which granted him a visa as a gesture of goodwill toward Iran, has, as expected, occasioned renewed interest in Khatami's theme of dialogue among civilizations.

Initiated in 2000 as a discursive response to the siren voices of clashing civilizations, Khatami's "counter-paradigm" attracted global attention after the United Nations' embrace of his suggestion to make 2001 the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. The UN and its Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organized a plethora of events around this, sponsored under the leadership of veteran UN diplomat Giandomenico Picco, Kofi Annan's personal representative on "Dialogue Among Civilizations".

For more than two years, this author worked closely with Picco and others to promote the message of tolerance, understanding and reciprocity behind this UN-focused program. [1] In addition to countless conferences, seminars and inter-faith meetings, this involved organizing a world youth festival on "Dialogue Among Civilizations", which took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, in the summer of 2000, bringing hundreds of young people from some 60 countries for a week of learning and inter-cultural activities.

In an article I inked in 2001 titled "Khatami and the emancipatory project of dialogue among civilizations", I highlighted the more than one dozen motivational factors that operated behind Khatami's initiative, including a quest for identity, autonomy, interdependence, peace and non-violence. [2]

In retrospect, I would put non-violence on top, particularly since there is so much rather pathetic misunderstanding of Islam in general and Shi'ism in specific in the West, irrespective of all the media commentaries. Case in point, respected Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis opined an article titled "August 22" in the Wall Street Journal last month in which he lambasted Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic Mahdism as a violent discourse premised on the end of the world.

Lewis's diatribe, easily debunkable by showing the remarkable non-violent ethos of Mahdism, in essence as a doctrine of hope in close affinity with the Christian belief in resurrection, clearly shows that the malady of pseudo-understanding of Islam is not a monopoly of so-called yellow journalism and unfortunately runs deeper, infecting a significant aspect of the academic community in the United States. [3]

Thus the timely antidote of Khatami's trip and his message of Islamic humanism beamed at the US and global audience sets straight a sad spectacle of academic and scholarly miscognition on Islam.

In a speech in Chicago, Khatami responded to his Jewish and other critics by pointing out that he was the first Muslim leader to condemn the "barbaric" atrocities of September 11, 2001, and that he condemned the terrorists committing mass slaughter in New York in the strongest language possible in his speech before the UN General Assembly that year.

Khatami may be out of office and even out of favor in Tehran, yet his message of peace and dialogue is as important as ever, seeing how the nuclear row between Iran and the US has the potential of going down the slippery road to military confrontation.

A relatively neglected facet of Khatami's discourse deals with security. Until now, Khatami has not fully incorporated the security dialogue as an organic facet of his vision of dialogue among civilizations. Yet in light of the post-September 11 US intervention in the Middle East and the heightened insecurity of the Muslim Middle East regarding a "new crusade" led by an evangelical US president, it is essential that the discourse move on from mostly philosophical and theological levels or dimensions to the more concrete level of security dialogue.

Dialogue is, after all, a quest for understanding the "hostile other", and short of understanding the root causes of insecurity breeding paranoia in the West and Muslim East about each other, it is impossible to see a genuine way forward beyond the seemingly impregnable walls of clashing civilizations.

Of course, even then there is no guarantee that we could witness a qualitative breakthrough in the hot furnace of Islam versus West in the current milieu. As Samuel Huntington has aptly pointed out in his book on clashing civilizations, a great deal of this animosity is power-generated, by the vast accumulation of economic and political capital in the West headed by the United States, which, according to Huntington, manipulates the UN almost at will.

Huntington has been rightly criticized, including by this author, for his not-so-apt analysis of the countervailing forces at the UN, etc, and his theoretically simplistic advocacy of "distinct" civilizations leaves a lot to be desired. Yet for one reason or another, which goes to the heart of the decline of intellectual power in the West, this thoroughly suspect "paradigm" has come to grand prominence, lighting the fire of the raw sentiments of many a religious zealot in the West and the East.

To his credit, Khatami has taken a lead in criticizing this "dangerous idea" and has made the singular contribution of seeking to turn its poison around by putting its premise on the head by the counter-discourse of dialogue among civilizations, the theoretical status of which still remains somewhat murky six years later.

In an essay published in the UN Chronicle in 2000, this author made the following observation: "Much as some of us, particularly in the West, may prefer an economically neutral 'dialogue among civilizations' tailored to cross-cultural exchange on a world scale, for this dialogue to have an impact, its terrain must extend to political economy, taking into consideration the lessons of the North-South dialogue, such as that globalization has marred the lines of demarcation between the poles even though the present world hierarchization and inequities warrant churning the engines of this dialogue - on perennial issues of just trade, foreign aid, reform of global finance, AIDS and so on - notwithstanding Nelson Mandela's call for 'globalization without marginalization'."

Six years later, in view of the UN's inability to make meaningful progress on its much-publicized Millennium Development Goals, the global fight against poverty is more and more appearing as a losing battle. Poverty breeds hatred and conflict, and with so much of the Muslim world living in poverty, there has to be a dialogue on economic security that addresses the economic root causes of terrorism, the fact that the Muslim underclass is easy prey to terrorist networks, partly for economic reasons in addition to purely religious grounds.

A genuine ethic of tolerance blinded to the economic causes of intolerance is like a one-eyed horse that limps only in one direction, ie, cultural reciprocity. Yet while this is highly important, the economic determinations, leading us back to some of the basic insights of Karl Marx, are equally important.

Notes

1. Listening. Inclusiveness. Tolerance. Reciprocity. Perspective: Dialogue among civilizations, United Nations Chronicle online edition, November 2001.

2. See Khatami and the emancipatory project of dialogue of civilization: A motivational analysis.

3. "Shi'ism as Mahdism: Reflections on a Doctrine of Hope", a speech given by Kaveh L Afrasiabi at the London Institute for Islamic Studies on the occasion of the Birthday of the Twelfth Imam Mahdi, November 20, 2003.

-----------------------------------

Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD, is the author of After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (Westview Press) and co-author of "Negotiating Iran's Nuclear Populism", Brown Journal of World Affairs, Volume XII, Issue 2, Summer 2005, with Mustafa Kibaroglu. He also wrote "Keeping Iran's nuclear potential latent", Harvard International Review, and is author of Iran's Nuclear Program: Debating Facts Versus Fiction.

-------------------------------------

(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: No Police escort For Khatami!

Mass. Gov. calls planned Khatami talk "propaganda"

According to a Reuters report, Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday said Massachusetts would not provide any security support for former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami's weekend visit, calling his planned speech at Harvard "propaganda."

Khatami is due to speak on Sunday at Harvard University in Cambridge on the "Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence."

Romney said Khatami will not receive a state police escort or any other state help. Federal officials will attend to his security.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the state normally provides a police escort to visiting dignitaries. He said U.S. State Department officials had contacted the state police's tactical unit, which typically coordinates traffic-stopping escorts, prior to Romney's statement.

Romney, a 2008 Republican presidential hopeful, called the visit "a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who lost their lives at the hands of extremists, especially on the eve of the five-year anniversary of 9/11."

"The U.S. State Department listed Khatami's Iran as the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism," Romney said. "For him to lecture Americans about tolerance and violence is propaganda, pure and simple."

"We are surprised and disappointed by Governor Romney's position," on Khatami's visit, Harvard said in a statement.

"In keeping with its educational mission, Harvard University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government have a long tradition of providing an opportunity for leaders from around the world to speak to the community on public policy issues, and just as importantly, to give the audience the opportunity to ask challenging and unfiltered questions of these leaders."

"We are currently reviewing the security arrangements for this visit in light of the Governor's decision. We expect to go forward with the event and will work diligently with federal and local officials to ensure a safe environment for all."

The United States last week issued a visa for Khatami's visit. He was also scheduled to attend a United Nations conference in New York.

-------------------------------

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

The Kennedy School of Government pledged Khatami Speech Will Go On

School says it will accommodate ex-Iranian leader despite loss of state support

By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ The Harvard Crimson

The Kennedy School of Government pledged Tuesday evening to go forward with an event featuring former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, despite a wave of outcry from Massachusetts Governor W. Mitt Romney, two U.S. congressional leaders, and several Harvard students and professors.

Romney ordered all state agencies to refuse requests for support for Khatami’s upcoming trip to the Boston area on Tuesday, calling Harvard’s invitation to the former Iranian leader “a disgrace to the memory of all Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of extremists.”

Khatami, an Islamic cleric who led Iran from 1997 to 2005, is scheduled to speak on the “Ethics of Tolerance in the Age of Violence” and answer audience questions at the Kennedy School of Government’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets to the event are available via a lottery that closes Wednesday night.

The announcement by Romney, who earned joint degrees in business and law from Harvard in 1974, means Khatami will not be provided a state police escort or VIP treatment when he travels through the area.

In a statement released Tuesday evening, the school said it is currently reviewing the security arrangements for the visit in light of the governor’s decision. The event will go forth as planned, the statement said, adding “safety will remain a paramount concern.”

“We can understand and often share [Romney’s] disagreement with the positions of Khatami,” the statement said. “The school nonetheless believes that active and open dialogue are a critical part of effective education and policy.”

Romney isn’t the only public official opposing Khatami’s visit to Cambridge.

A spokesman for Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., condemned Harvard for extending the invitation to Khatami, who the spokesman called a “propagandist…spreading his boldface untruths.”

“No college or university should have allowed him to speak,” Robert Traynham, the spokesman, said.

In a statement released to The Crimson, U.S. Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R.-Fla., said that Khatami’s appearance at the Kennedy School is an “affront to all freedom loving people at Harvard and in the U.S.”

“I would hope that the incredibly talented students at Harvard would question Khatami on the many issues which prevent his country from becoming a responsible member of the world community,” she said in the statement.

Khatami’s appearance at Harvard has also been the subject of critical editorials in the Boston Herald and the New York Sun over the past week. The newspapers have likened the former Iranian president’s views to those outlined in the contentious “Israel Lobby” paper co-written by Belfer Professor of International Affairs Stephen M. Walt.

Khatami’s visit, the first trip of an Iranian leader to the university since the U.S. State Department severed ties with the country in 1979, has also met criticism from within the Harvard community.

Harvard Students for Israel released a statement over the weekend calling Khatami’s invitation “surprising and alarming” because of Khatami’s leadership during the 1999 arrest and torture of several hundred Tehran University student protestors.

“This man has no standing to speak about the ‘ethics of tolerance’ at a university,” the group’s president, Rebecca M. Rohr ’08, wrote in an e-mail. “This invitation is beneath the dignity of Harvard, which has always prided itself on moral uprightness and integrity.”

Khatami has criticized Israel in the past and once called it an “illegal state” and a “parasite in the heart of the Muslim world,” according to newspaper accounts from 2000 and 2001. He has also supported the militant Islamic group Hezbollah.

But Alexander L. Edelman ’07, chair of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, said that while Khatami is “no friend of Israel,” he supports the ex-Iranian leader’s right to speak.

“Khatami is a reformer, and although he wasn’t ultimately successful, that doesn't change that he's been a force for good in a country that has a pretty extremist, right wing government,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature Ruth R. Wisse called Khatami “the world’s exemplar of intolerance,” noting his role in the Tehran University crackdown.

“This degrades the standards of elemental decency, let alone abdicating the quest for truth,” Wisse wrote in an e-mail. “I do not think that Harvard should have given Khatami a pulpit unless it was to abjectly apologize.”

Martin Peretz, a longtime Harvard lecturer and Cabot House associate, said Khatami is "a front for a despicable dictatorial regime" and that the event would not provide an opportunity to rigorously challenge the former leader.

"Why don’t they invite him to a tough seminar?" he said, adding that he believes the often-crowded question-and-answer sessions at the Kennedy School are “bullshit.”

But Abbas Maleki, a former deputy foreign minister of Iran and senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, said Khatami had done much to extend democracy to Iran and would bring his expertise in the origins of violence to the Kennedy School.

“I propose to all of us that it’s better to enjoy from this opportunity and ask the questions that we have mind,” Maleki said.

Khatami was at the country’s helm in 2002 when Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, was named part of an “axis of evil” by President George W. Bush for pursuing nuclear weapons.

The ex-Iranian leader’s Harvard speech comes as the United States is seeking punitive action against Iran for failing to meet a United Nations deadline on suspending its uranium enrichment program.

Khatami will participate in a question-and-answer session following the speech as well as a small, invitation-only dinner and reception. The address will be delivered in Farsi and translated into English.

The decision to invite Khatami was made in May, Kennedy School spokeswoman Melodie L. Jackson said, after professors at the school’s Belfer Center and the school’s dean, David T. Ellwood ’75, learned the former president would be traveling to the United States.

The school extended the invitation on behalf of Harvard under the belief that Khatami could further the discussion on improving relations between cultures.

Jackson said Khatami is also expected to visit Georgetown University, Columbia University, and the University of Virginia during his visit.

-----------------------------------------

Mohammad Khatami at the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations meeting at United Nations headquarters

According to an AFP report: Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami came to the United Nations for a meeting of a high-level UN group tasked with promoting an "Alliance of Civilizations" between the West and the Islamic world.

Khatami, who is on a private US visit for a series of talks, made no statement to the press.

The two-day conference, which opened Tuesday, comes five years after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The Alliance of Civilizations is a 2005 initiative by UN chief Kofi Annan and the prime ministers of Spain and Turkey aimed at bringing together institutions and civil society to bridge prejudices and misunderstandings between peoples of different cultures and religions.

It is run by a committee of 19 prominent international figures jointly led by Federico Mayor, the Spanish former director general of UNESCO and founder of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, and Mehmet Aydin, a Turkish state minister and a professor of theology.



Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami criticized President Bush in interviews published Tuesday, as he joined Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other leaders at the U.N. for a meeting of a group that promotes understanding between Western and Islamic states.

Khatami faces flak in U.S. and in Iran

(UPI) -- Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's visit to the United States is drawing fire there and also from Muslim clerics back home.

Khatami's five-city U.S. tour this week drew the wrath of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Jewish human rights group, which fought the U.S. decision to grant him a visa with a 14,000-signature petition, CNN reported.

In Tehran, a newspaper called the U.S. visa "suspicious" and one critic suggested the Shiite cleric should be defrocked for committing "worse than a sin" in his trip, the Washington Post reported.

In an interview with CNN, Khatami broke with his hard-line successor, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and said he does not call for Israel's destruction.

Mohammad Khatami says US should stay in Iraq for moment

Mohammad Khatami criticised Iran's President Ahmadinejad and US President George W. Bush for their rhetoric.

The United States should stay in Iraq until the Iraqi government has things under control, visiting former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has said in an interview published.

"We can't leave this newly formed government at the mercy of terrorists and insurgents," he told USA Today, adding Iran was not the enemy of the United States and both countries shared strategic interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Despite the change in the leadership, Khatami said that Iran is not the enemy of the United States and that the two countries share strategic interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Khatami said Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, didn't provide weapons to Iraqi Shiites while he was in power. He said he doubts that the current leadership is doing so, as has been charged by U.S. officials including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "No one will benefit as much as Iran from peace and stability in Iraq," he said.

He also urged Tehran and Washington to negotiate over the international crisis caused by Iran's rejection of UN demands to give up uranium enrichment activities, which Western powers suspect could be used to make nuclear bombs.

Under his administration Iran suspended nuclear fuel making activities and accepted inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said, possibly in an indirect criticism of Ahmadinejad.

But Khatami also tried to dissuade the US and its allies from imposing sanctions on Iran.

"Sanctions are to the detriment of Iran," he said. "Sanctions -- and, even worse than that, military action -- will only serve to complicate the issue, not solve the problem."

He criticized both Ahmadinejad and President Bush for using intemperate language that has heightened tensions. "A politician must conduct himself at the highest level of etiquette and diplomacy," Khatami said, when asked about Ahmadinejad's comments threatening Israel and denying the Holocaust.

Khatami said he hoped Bush's use of the term "Islamic fascism" to describe countries such as Iran "is a misquote. It would be unfortunate that a president of the great nation of America would use words in such an irresponsible way."

Sources: AFP, USA Today

Mohammad Khatami visits Oriental Institute of University of Chicago

TEHRAN, (Khatami.ir) Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami in his Monday's visit to Chicago's Oriental Institute Museum said Iran's clay tablets kept there should not fall victim to political games.

Head of the International Center for Dialogue among Civilizations underlining Iran's cultural rights and ownership of the artifacts added, "The heritage of mankind is not tradable and replaceable.

"The artifacts do not belong to the governments. They belong to the whole Iranian nation and the entire world. We must stand up to the ongoing propaganda and safeguard the historical assets of Iran which are held in trust in this university and museum."

The Oriental Institute Museum curator Gil Stein pointed to the long process of deciphering the tablets, and the fact that only 12 people in the world can read them, expressing hope the process will be over soon and the artifacts will return home.

The clay tablets have been kept in the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute since the 1930s. But lawyers for Americans wounded in a 1997 bombing in Jerusalem claimed to seize the collection as part of Iranian assets in the United States.

The tablets date from the Achaemenid Era, 553 BC-330 BC and were excavated from Persepolis, the ancient Persian capital built by Darius I.

----------------------------------------

To view Pictures of this event please visit Mr. Khatami's official website

Mohammad Khatami regrets 1979's Hostage Taking

Khatami: Iran 'accepts two-state answer in Middle East'

By Guy Dinmore and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Chicago

Mohammad Khatami, Iran's former president, says Iran would accept a Palestinian state "ready to live alongside Israel" if the elected Hamas government freely adopted such an outcome.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Khatami, a reformist, distanced himself from the hardline statements expressed by Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, his fundamentalist successor, who has called the Holocaust a myth and said Israel should be removed from the map by the Palestinians.

At the weekend he addressed the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America near Chicago, where 13,000 mostly American Muslims greeted him with a standing ovation.

Criticising the Bush administration's approach to the "war on terror", Mr Khatami said the US was fanning conflicts and inflaming sentiments. On the nuclear issue, he reiterated Iran's rejection of US demands for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment as a precondition for talks.

But asked if Iran could accept a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr Khatami appeared more conciliatory. Although now a private citizen, he stressed his words represented Iran's policy.

"I think Hamas itself, which has come to power today in a democratic process, is ready to live alongside Israel if its rights are met and it is dealt with like a democratic state and as the Palestinian government, and pressures are removed from Hamas," he said.

"Of course whatever Palestinians think is respected by us," he said.

Iran's officially stated policy is that all Palestinians must decide their future through a referendum. Mr Khatami is the most senior Iranian politician to accept the possibility of a two-state solution.

Iran's policy toward Israel had not fundamentally changed since Mr Ahmadi-Nejad was elected, Mr Khatami said. Referring to the role of the Supreme Leader, he noted that Iranian presidents in general were "not deciding about fundamental and general policies at all" although their interpretation, tactics and words might be different.

Mr Khatami spoke of the Holocaust as fact and said Iran wanted “sustainable peace” in the Middle East for Jews, Muslims and Christians.

In his eight years as president, Mr Khatami ultimately failed to overcome opposition by regime hardliners to his domestic political reforms. Now, on the international stage, his main mission is to avert what many Iranians fear is a looming military confrontation with the US, and promote dialogue and reconciliation among the major religions.

How his message will be digested by the Bush administration remains unclear. The State Department ignored the protests of neoconservatives and hardline pro-Israel lobbyists by granting him a visa, but US officials are under instruction not to meet him and walked out of the Islamic Society's Chicago convention before he spoke.

Nonetheless, the State Department impressed the Iranian delegation by providing elaborate security. Mr Khatami says the "wall of mistrust" between the US and Iran has grown under the Bush administration, warning of the dangers of another Middle East war. "As miscalculations about Iraq have created problems for the US, the Iraqi nation and the region, if the same miscalculation is repeated about Iran, the damages for everyone will definitely be much more than Iraq," he said.

Mr Khatami – who will also address an Alliance of Civilisations conference at the UN this week – denounces President George W. Bush's description of the enemy as Islamic fascists. He then turns the table on the western powers, accusing them of uprooting fascism from the national level but transferring it to the international arena.

"Today at the international level we see a kind of fascism, apartheid, unilateralism and a kind of totalitarianism [by the west] according to which nations are distributed, their interests are distributed and wars are created."

Mohammad Khatami regrets 1979's Hostage Taking

Asked if the moment was right to apologise to the US diplomats held hostage in Tehran for 444 days in the aftermath of the revolution, Mr Khatami repeated that he "regretted" what happened.

Mohammad Khatami and Jimmy Carter will not meet each other

He said he appreciated an invitation by Jimmy Carter – president during that crisis – to meet in Atlanta, but said his schedule was already full. He said he hoped they might work together later on international peace and reconciliation issues "if the grounds are prepared".

---------------------------------------------
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

Khatami believes US attack on Iran unlikely

According to an AFP report, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, on a visit to the United States, said he believes a US attack on Iran is unlikely and called for a diplomatic solution to the impasse over the country's disputed nuclear program in an interview broadcast.

Asked if he feared possible military action against Iran over its nuclear program, Khatami told CNN television: "We are definitely worried and hopeful that such a thing will not take place, such attack will not take place.

"I think, in all honesty, the probability of something like that taking place are very low. And I believe the only power that can undertake -- can take such steps is the United States, and, quite frankly, I think the United States has caused itself enough problems in Iraq."

In the interview conducted in Chicago, Khatami called for a diplomatic solution to resolve Iran's nuclear impasse with the west.

"Through communication and negotiation, the needed guarantees can be given to give assurances that we're not pursuing the atomic weapon," said Khatami, speaking through an interpreter.

He said Iran had never sought to secure nuclear weapons.

"It has never been the policy nor the mindset of any branch of the Iranian government to pursue atomic weapons, which can be the source of vast, numerous deaths in the world."

Asked about Ahmadinejad's remarks on Israel, he said: "I personally never said that Israel should be wiped off the map.

"I always said and backed fair and equal peace in the region with the main pillar -- one of the main pillars of which would have to be fair treatment of Palestinians and also the repatriation rights of the Palestinian refugees."

Discussing the prospects for democracy in the Middle East, Khatami said that any outside intervention only makes political progress more difficult.

"Obviously, we do have some mistakes, some challenges in the region, wrong decisions taken by the leaders in the region. But I firmly believe it's only increased through foreign intervention," he said.

"I again firmly believe that through dialogue and close cooperation and understanding there is a better way to work through and eliminate the problems and challenges, rather than threats and violence."

Robert Fisk: Khatami's wisdom is not wanted in Washington

Independent, By Robert Fisk in Chicago

As the West's "war on terror" burns across the Muslim world, one of Islam's most principled leaders - the former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami - issued a grave warning yesterday from the very heart of America, the country whose troops and allies are fighting Islamists across the Middle East in a war that is costing thousands of Muslim lives.

"The policies of the neo-conservatives have created a war that creates more extremists and radicals," he told The Independent in Chicago. "The events of 9/11 gave them this ability to create fear and anxiety ... and to create new policies of their own and now events are creating an expansion of extremists on both sides. A struggle is under way to dominate this world multilaterally ... We are a witness to war - with suppression from one side and extremist reaction in the form of terror from the other."

Mr Khatami might appear an improbable figure in the breakfast room of one of Chicago's smartest hotels, dressed in his black turban and long gown, his spectacles giving him the appearance of a university don - which he once was - rather than the seer of Iran, a man whose demands for a civil society and democracy at home were overwhelmed by the ascetic clerics who surround the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Yet he is enormously important in the Sunni as well as the Shia Muslim worlds as a philosopher-scholar, which is probably why the Bush administration gave him a visa, and his message was the sharpest he has ever delivered to the Muslim world and the secular West.

The former president said: "We have to find ways to confront these people on both sides. We need public opinion to be influenced ... And now the neo-conservative policies have created this sort of war."

But Mr Khatami, who defended Iran's role in the nuclear crisis between the West and Tehran - he asked why Israel was allowed nuclear weapons while refusing to sign the nuclear non-proliferation pact - did not spare the perpetrators of what he called "the inhumane terrorist attacks" of 11 September 2001. "I was one of the first officials to condemn this barbaric act ... this inferno would only intensify extremism and one-sidedness and would have no outcome except to retard justice and intellect and sacrifice righteousness and humanity," he said.

Addressing 15,000 American Muslims at the weekend, Mr Khatami also made a clear assault on the influence of Israel's political lobby in the US. "We are unfortunately witnessing the emergence of policies that seek to confiscate public opinion in order to exploit all the grandeur of the nation and country of the United States ... policies that are the outcome of a point of view, that despite having no status in the US public arena as far as numbers are concerned, uses decisive lobby groups and influential centres to utilise the entirety of America's power and wealth to promote its own interest and to implant policies outside US borders that have no resemblance to the spirit of Anglo-American civilisation and the aspirations of its Founding Fathers or its constitution, causing crisis after crisis in our world."

When he spoke of "the vast and all-encompassing presence of powers who express concern for the world but implement policies aimed at devouring the world," there was a sense of shock among his audience. They had not expected such an epic denunciation of US hegemony from a divine known for his compassion rather than his anger.

"Any popular or democratic change or transformation that is outside the realm of their influence is not acceptable," he said, "for they find it far more convenient to deal with non-nationalistic and non-popular trends and regimes rather than popular ones, who naturally tend to care about the welfare and the physical interests of their people."

Thus did Mr Khatami dispose of America's cry for "democracy" in the "new" Middle East.

Needless to say, his words were given scarcely a few seconds on America's major news channels. Mr Khatami's wisdom is not wanted in Washington.

------------------------------------------------

© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited

Mohammad Khatami condemns US policy

Ex-Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has delivered a scathing criticism of US foreign policy to an annual gathering of Muslims in Illinois.

BBC News : Mohammad Khatami was the most anticipated speaker at the convention and his speech was surprisingly direct.

He said US anti-terrorism policies were actually inciting terrorism and accused the US of trying to dominate the world.

Within minutes of taking the podium he was attacking the portrayal of Islam in the popular media in the West.

"Media Islam is the result of a one-sided understanding of Islam that is represented to us in a solitary, cliched and vicious way," he said.

"The political version of Islam that is displayed is merely an imaginary version of Islam. What has been stated is a dark and false perception of Islam and the East."

The perceived behaviour of Western power was a key theme of the speech.

Mr Khatami referred to vast, all-encompassing powers that expressed concern for the world, but implemented policies aimed at devouring it.

And he directly criticised US policies, which he said exploited "the grandeur of the nation and country of the United States for the subjugation and domination of the world".

The US State Department had issued Mr Khatami a visitor's visa with no restrictions, a move that upset Jewish groups and some lawmakers here.

Mohammad Khatami calls for secular, religious dialogue

Mohammad Khatami: U.S. policies trigger terrorism

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Saturday that U.S. foreign policy triggers terrorism and violence in the world, but American Muslims can play a key role in promoting peace and security.

"As America claims to be fighting terrorism, it implements policies that cause the intensification of terrorism and institutionalized violence," he told the Islamic Society of North America's convention.

"The power of powers enjoys access to international instruments for securing their supremacy and strengthening their dominance, only seeking total subservience of others," he said.

Speaking through a translator, Khatami told tens of thousands of Muslims at the meeting that there is a chronic misunderstanding between the West and the East that goes back to the Crusades and continues today.

He said American Muslims "through active participation in the social arena" can form lobbying groups and form a consensus with other Americans.

"Public opinion can be rescued from the grips of ignorance and blunder and the domination of arrogant, warmongering and violence-triggering policies will end," he said.

Khatami called the United States "a great nation" and said that as president of Iran he was among the first world leaders to condemn the Sept. 11 attacks as a barbaric act.

"I knew this inferno would only intensify extremism and one-sidedness and would have no outcome except to retard justice and intellect and sacrifice righteousness and humanity," he said.

He castigated the United States for finding it "more convenient" to deal with despots than democratic regimes that do not serve its interests and he denounced the current "war mongering against Islam and Islamophobia."

"The outcome of such behavior is the cyclical increase and buildup of hatred towards policies implemented by the United States throughout the world, and particularly in the Middle East," he added.

He said Muslims must forge a new identity that embraces the modern world, tolerates other religions and works toward peace.

He spoke about the need to create a dialogue between the secular and religious worlds. "The people of true faith and the people who are truly concerned about humanity... These two communities can work together, They can communicate among one another for the betterment and better understanding of the cause of humanity," he said through an interpreter. "The dialogue can help to bring these two communities together." he said.

he focused his 40-minute address on a philosophical discussion of how peace and human development can be best achieved.

Neither religions that preach a complete withdrawal from the material world nor the modern religion of science and materialism can eliminate insecurity, Khatami said. Only by finding a "third way" that addresses both the spiritual needs and the material needs can a "life of peace and satisfaction" be achieved, he said.

Khatami will make stops at universities, speak at the United Nations and attend two Islamic conferences during his trip, an official close to him said Friday. Khatami arrived in the United States on Thursday, two days after the State Department issued him a visa. There are no restrictions on his travel.

Khatami's visit to the Islamic Society drew criticism from the Chicago Jewish Federation, which issued a statement that condemned the former leader, saying he has "behaved as an enemy of America and our most cherished values."

Ingrid Mattson, the Islamic Society's newly elected president, said Friday the invitation to Khatami was a "natural extension of our role as proponents of dialogue and learning." She said the group hopes to show Khatami "how the American Muslim community has dealt with issues of religious freedom and tolerance and perhaps he can carry some of that message back."

The Islamic Society's four-day meeting is expected to draw more than 30,000 Muslims from Canada and around the United States for mostly nonpolitical sessions on subjects including retirement planning, Internet marketing, home schooling and dating.

-------------------
Sources: AP, AFP,

Mohammad Khatami in Streamwood, at Bait-Ul-Ilm Academy

Mohammad Khatami: People of true faith do not include extremists or terrorists who exploit the name of religion.

AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

On Saturday, Speaking to a group of Islamic community leaders at Bait ul Ilm, an Islamic center in suburban Streamwood, Khatami said a dialogue needs to be created between the secular and religious worlds.

Mohammad Khatami denounced terrorists and extremists who "exploit the name of religion" and said they are not people of "true faith."

"The people of true faith and the people who are truly concerned about humanity... These two communities can work together," Khatami said in his first public appearance in the United States.

"They can communicate among one another for the betterment and better understanding of the cause of humanity," he said through an interpreter. "The dialogue can help to bring these two communities together."

Neither religions that preach a complete withdrawal from the material world nor the modern religion of science and materialism can eliminate insecurity, Khatami said. Only by finding a "third way" that addresses both the spiritual needs and the material needs can a "life of peace and satisfaction" be achieved, he said.


AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

Mosque leaders said Saturday that they were inundated with requests to attend Khatami's visit, which was put together quickly.

"People wanted to come by buses and trains," said Amir Mukhtar Fayzi, the mosque's imam, or spiritual leader.

Khatami was scheduled to speak Saturday night to the Islamic Society of North America, meeting in Rosemont for its 43rd annual convention. Leaders of the group said that had they learned earlier that Khatami had obtained a visa they would have staged a "million man Muslim march" around Chicago.

On Saturday afternoon, Khatami took a campaign line from former President Ronald Reagan.

Asking whether the world was better off than it was in the 400 years before the Renaissance, Khatami answered by saying there is "too much material and materialism."

The result, Khatami said, is a world of "insecurity."

Source: Chicago Tribune

Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

JCRC Calls on Washington National Cathedral to Rescind Invitation to Mohammad Khatami

{Note: Facts speak for themselves. Certainly the status that His Excellency Mohammad Khatami achieved inside and outside of Iran among different intellectuals, religious scholars, elites and thinkers, would never be possible if He was such a person that JCRC depicted.

If Iranian people ever doubted his nobility, knowledge and honesty, and if people ever doubted his democratic values and intellect, if they ever doubted Khatami’s open-mindedness and respectfulness, they would not vote for him in great numbers for two terms to make him their president.

If People of Iran shared the views of JCRC, they would never bother to stay in long lines behind voting boxes just to say YES to Democracy and rule of law and NO to dictatorship by voting for his highness, Mohammad Khatami.

Some may discover the reality by washing their eyes and correcting their views, but some, may never be able to see the truth because they are blind, I hope, JCRC be among the former group, not the later. I hope someday they apologize for their misunderstandings and wrong views about Seyed Mohammad Khatami.

God Bless Mohammad Khatami
By S.T. the Administrator of Khatami-Mania}
------------------------------------------------------------------------

JCRC Calls on Washington National Cathedral to Rescind Speaking Invitation to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, Dean
Washington National Cathedral
3101 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016

Dear Rev. Lloyd:

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is deeply disappointed and dismayed to learn that the Washington National Cathedral has decided to host former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami - a figure who has a long documented record of intolerance, anti-Semitism and human rights abuses. Under his leadership, and continuing today, repeated threats were made to destroy the Jewish state. As a prominent national church it is under no obligation to provide a platform to President Khatami. Quite the opposite; the cathedral's reputation is one of compassion and coexistence with other faith communities. This invitation belies that tradition. We ardently hope that you will consider withdrawing it.

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami is no moderate. His record is clear: during his time in office Iran expanded its support for international terrorism, pursued the acquisition of nuclear weapons, armed Hizbullah and other anti-Western extremists groups. In fact, as minister of culture, he presided over the creation of Hezbollah.

His reign, like that of his successor, has been repressive, intolerant, and autocratic. All the evidence contradicts his reputation as a reformer. We feel that the decision to invite President Khatami tarnishes the cathedral's tradition and reputation for promoting tolerance and mutual understanding among all people and is in conflict with its publicly stated mission.

At a bare minimum, considering his record as president, his earlier years of public service and the country he represents, he is an inappropriate individual to invite to participate in a discussion on religious tolerance. Your invitation bestows honor upon a dishonorable disseminator of hatred and intolerance.

President Khatami's reign was marked by repeated and public calls for the annihilation of Israel, unflinching progression towards the acquisition of nuclear weapons and the arming and financing of the terrorist group Hezbollah. When most Western leaders condemned Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's virulently anti-Semitic speech to the Organization of the Islamic Conference in October 2003, President Khatami called it "brilliant" and "logical." It was during President Khatami's rule in early 1999 that 13 Iranian Jews were arrested on sham charges of spying for Israel, including a rabbi and a 16-year-old boy. The trial violated all legal norms: it was closed to all observers, the judge served as the investigator and prosecutor, and no evidence was presented. Ten of the Jews were sentenced from 4-13 years in jail.

During President Khatami's rule internal repression continued unabated. Just one year into his presidency, his intelligence services murdered Darioush and Parvaneh Forouhar, leaders of Iran's National Party. More than fifty newspapers were banned, government-funded vigilantes killed unarmed students at Teheran University (with no one ever charged for the crimes) and in an effort to continue to monopolize all control over information to its population, the ban on satellite dishes was maintained and extended to private internet connections. In fact, it was during his rule that Iran accelerated its nuclear weapons program and the ballistic capability to deliver them.

His earlier behavior was not any better. As a member of the council under Ayatollah Khomeini, Khatami did nothing to prevent or protest the murder of 3,000 political prisoners in a single week in 1998. In charge of censorship for a decade in Iran, he banned over 600 books and he stated in the Iran daily Keyhan in 1980 that only clergy should serve in government.

As we have learned from history, one cannot separate the message from the messenger. President Khatami will take advantage of your heartfelt desire to promote peace and tolerance and use the platform to secure legitimacy for Iran's hard line positions. President Khatami may carefully craft his words for your audience, but that deception cannot hide his past actions and outrageous public pronouncements.

In the spirit of brotherhood towards all people, and peace, tolerance and love for all, we respectfully request that the invitation to President Khatami be withdrawn.

Sincerely,

Susan Weinberg, President

Ronald Halber, Executive Director

-----------------------------------------------------

http://www.usnewswire.com/ - /© 2006 U.S. Newswire