Khatami calls for healing Sunni-Shiite divide in Egypt

AFP: Iran's former president Mohammed Khatami called for Sunnis and Shiites to lay aside their differences, in a speech to students at Egypt's Al-Azhar university, the leading institution for Sunni learning in the Islamic world.

Khatami insisted on the "importance of a rapprochement between the currents, religions and civilisations... to confront those looking to divide the sons of the Islamic nation."

The former president, known for his stormy and ultimately futile eight-year battle to moderate Iran's hardline clerical regime, called on Al-Azhar to work towards mending the divides within Islam, "particularly those between Shiites and Sunnis to realise total cooperation between Muslims."

The call comes just a day after savage sectarian attacks resulted in the deaths of scores of Sunnis and Shiites in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar in a cycle of revenge that has become increasingly common in the war-torn country.

The biggest challenges for the Muslim world, according Khatami, are "Islamophobia, which is the fear of Islam and the unjust accusation of terrorism made by the great powers" as well as "underdevelopment and despotism in the Muslim world."

Mohammad Khatami: We Export Oil, They Export Crises

By Nilofar Suhrawardy, Muslim Media News Service (MMNS)

NEW DELHI– Just a few hours before the United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed to impose new, more stringent sanctions against Iran because of its uranium enrichment program, former President of Iran Sayyid Mohammad Khatami was arguing against it.

“There was no need to refer the Iranian nuclear program to the UN Security Council. Without threat or use of power, we can solve this problem in a peaceful manner,” Khatami asserted while addressing a media conclave (March 23) here.

Describing the United States’ approach as “unilateral,” Khatami said: “Pressure can make the situation worse.”

Alluding to the US role in pushing sanctions against Iran at UN, Khatami emphasized that the Iranian nuclear impasse could be resolved within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through dialogue and negotiations.

“Iran should not be deprived of peaceful atomic energy. We don’t want to have nuclear weapons,” he said. “Iran is ready to sit at the negotiating table. It requires no precondition. It only requires goodwill,” Khatami said.

Displaying Iran’s willingness to cooperate with other countries of the world, particularly the West, while speaking at another gathering, Khatami laid stress on its being equally essential for Arab countries to retain their identity.

“Earlier, we considered only two options: reject the West or dedicate ourselves to the West. Now, the times are changing. We have to take advantages of the achievements made by the West without forgetting our own identity. There has to be a balance between East and West,” Khatami said.

President Khatami was the key speaker at a roundtable discussion organized by the Indian Council of World Affairs (March 24).

Blaming the United States for the “prejudice” it held in regarding itself as “self-made ruler of world, who can dominate anywhere in the world,” Khatami also acknowledged that other countries of the West, including European ones, are gradually displaying less prejudice.

Dismissing the rhetoric raised about the Middle East crises being a clash of civilizations, Khatami said: “If we analyze any war, there are political or economic reasons behind it.”

Blaming the West, particularly the US, for the crises in the region, he said: “Be it anti-Semitism or anti-Fascism, they are the same. Both have been created in the West.”

Acknowledging that “Iran is located in the heart of crisis in Middle East region,” Khatami said: “Crisis has been imposed from outside. The powers seeking to gain hold here want this region to be always crisis ridden.” “This area is the largest source of energy. No superpower can exist without dominance over this region. Thus all these years we have exported oil to them and they have exported crises to us. They (the West) want this area to be crisis-ridden, so that we remain locked in wars and import arms from them,” Khatami said.

While strongly criticizing the countries responsible for fueling conflict and crises in the region, Khatami laid stress on Iran’s willingness to solve the crises through dialogue and negotiations. “Oil crisis has to be changed to oil development,” he said.

“We have to find a solution,” Khatami said, giving emphasis to there being the need of paying “serious attention” towards “hope and development.” Laying stress on the need to give greater importance to “dialogue and co-existence,” Khatami said: “I recognize any kind of pact that would bring countries close to each other.”

Criticizing the United States’ Iraq policy, Khatami said: “US policies will not solve any crisis. The solution is not unilateral occupation of Iraq. The truth is that America never stopped terrorism, they are spreading it.” “That is the problem we are facing now.”

When questioned later on positive developments in Iran’s ties with Saudi Arabia, Khatami told this correspondent that the first major step in this direction was taken during his presidency (1997 to 2005).

“Iran and Saudi Arabia inked a strategic pact during my presidency,” Khatami said. The visit of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, regarded as a sign of their coming together, in Khatami’s opinion is continuation what he had earlier contributed to.

The pact inked in 2001 was viewed as “historic” as it marked the coming together of the two major powers. From Iran’s side, Khatami’s landmark visits to Saudi Arabia (1999 and 2002) played a crucial role in repairing the bilateral ties, which had suffered after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.

At present, Khatami is head of the Tehran-based International Center for Dialogue Among Cultures and Civilizations.

While here in India, Khatami met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also. At the media conclave, during his address the Indian Prime Minister praised Khatami and quoted his past statements. Singh said: “I have the highest regard for his (Khatami’s) wisdom, his scholarship and his statesmanship. He is a great citizen of the world, a great leader of the Iranian people and a great friend of India. It is pertinent that at a conclave like this we recall his wise words at the U.N. Conference on Dialogue Among Civilizations in September 2000. It was a dialogue that he had initiated. I recall his saying that: ‘The ultimate goal of dialogue among civilizations is not dialogue in itself, but attaining empathy and compassion.” “I fully endorse these sentiments. Today they have acquired renewed relevance in international affairs,” Singh said.

Khatami’s India-visit may not have been possible had the Indian government been against it. Singh’s comments and timing of Khatami’s visit sends a significant diplomatic message that New Delhi doesn’t want its relations with Tehran to be negatively affected by other international developments.

Mr. Khatami Gives a Lecture at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Mohamed Khatami Gives a Philosophical Political Religious Lecture at the BA

Alexandria— The BA hosted the Former Iranian President Mohamed Khatami, who visited the BA, and gave a lecture on "Dialogue among Civilizations", attended by several Egyptian politicians and dignitaries, and senior Iranian officials on Tuesday. Dr. Youssef Zeidan, Director, Manuscript Center and Museum moderated the session, which was attended by Dr. Ismail Seragedlin, Director of the Library of Alexandria.

At the onset of his lecture, Khatami said that a nation, whose Holy Book is the miracle of its religion, and whose first verse revealed to Prophet Muhammad starts with a command "Read", should highly value books, science, and rationality. However, Islamic countries, according to international standards, are ranked as developing countries.

He added that some people attempt to compensate for their ignorance by imitating the west, while others hide it by adhering to some religious practices, when the essence of religion, actually, calls for thinking and rationality.

Khatami raised a question on the deterioration of the Islamic World, whose civilization was one of the most distinguished civilizations of humanity. He added that the Islamic World does not utilize its material, intellectual and moral capacities to fight ignorance and backwardness and return to a status of eminence.

He referred to the significant role played by Alexandria in the history of knowledge, culture, and civilization, especially during the age of the Islamic civilization, and how much it relates to his proposal on "Dialogue among Civilization", which has gained a lot of international support.

He gave an example of co-existence and dialogue among civilizations, with the multi-faceted civilization, which was nurtured in Alexandria, following the decline of the Greek civilization. Alexandria welcomed Greek philosophers, thus building up on the production of earlier civilizations and cultures. Looking at the names and roots of distinguished philosophers and thinkers at that age, one finds out that scholars from different nationalities participated in the reformulation and publishing of the works of Aristotle and Plato.

Khatami admired the efforts exerted to revive the Library of Alexandria, as a center of knowledge, research and information for Egyptians, Muslims, and the world.

He stated that a society cherishing books, art and culture, must protect scholars and respect their freedom of expression. There would be no chance for creativity in science, art, and knowledge, in an atmosphere lacking security and freedom. He added that the issue of security and freedom is a matter of life and death and is the answer to the question raised earlier "why can’t our nation restore its prosperity and overcome its stagnation and backwardness?

At the end of the lecture, Khatami answered several questions on different issues including: Iranian- Egyptian relations, how Iran faced religious fundamentalism, dialogue among civilizations in the status quo, means of reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni, and the Iranian nuclear file.

At the end of the session a commemorative shield, as a small token of thanks and gratitude, was given to Mr. Mohamed Khatami by Dr. Ismail Seragedlin.

President Mubarak receives Khatami

Egypt SIS: President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday received visiting former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami at the Helioplis presidential headquarters on Tuesday morning. President Mubarak hosted a breakfast banquet in honor of Khatami.

Premier Dr.Ahmed Nazif and Sadeq Qaradhi, the deputy chairman of inter-civilizations dialogue organization was present.

Khatami will give a lecture at Mohammed Abdu Auditorium at Al-Darrasa district on conditions in the Muslim world.

A statement issued by Al-Azhar University said Khatami will meet with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi and Minister of Awqaf Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq, in addition to Al-Azhar University President Ahmed Al-Tayyeb, his deputies and a number of senior officials.

For his part, Mohammad Khatami reaffirmed in a Bibliotheca Alexandrina seminar on cultural dialogue that Egypt and Iran are two strong arms and wings for the Islamic world. Before an audience of many intellectuals, Khatami said that President Hosni Mubarak and himself had reaffirmed that they wanted good relations between their countries and to avoid instability that lead to terrorism and war.

In his statements, Khatami said that his uranium enriching program never targeted the production of nuclear weapons but rather supplying a source of energy for the coming generations.

Mohammad Khatami: Iran will never go for nuclear weapons

AFP: Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has pledged the Islamic Republic will never develop nuclear weapons and called for the crisis over Iran's atomic programme to be settled through talks, a report said Saturday.

Khatami's appeal on Friday in the Indian capital, New Delhi, came 24 hours before the UN Security Council was set to slap new sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend all uranium enrichment activity.

"Iran will never go for nuclear weapons," Khatami told a media conference in the city, according to the Indian Express newspaper.

"Weapons of mass destruction have never been our objective," he said.

Iran was always ready to give an "objective guarantee" on its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons and the issue should be solved "through negotiations," he added.

The "sensitive" region, which is already facing many problems over Iraq and Palestine, does not need another crisis, he said.

Khatami reiterated that Iran was pursuing its nuclear energy programme to meet its energy requirements.

"We have a huge reserve of oil and natural gas but it won't last long. Many countries in the world see fossil fuels as harmful and are looking for replacements," he said.

"Nuclear energy is the most accessible form of energy. We must also make use of wind and solar energy, said Khatami, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later in the day.

Nuclear-armed and energy-hungry India, which has long-standing ties with Iran, has repeatedly called for dialogue to resolve the row over Tehran's suspected nuclear ambitions.

India, Pakistan and Iran are engaged in talks to build a 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline for Iranian natural gas.

However, earlier this month India banned all imports and exports to and from Iran that could contribute to Tehran's nuclear programme as a result of sanctions against Iran imposed by the Security Council in December.

Security Council members reached broad agreement late Friday on a draft resolution expanding the December sanctions after Iran spurned demands to freeze its sensitive nuclear fuel work.

The draft resolution would ban Tehran from exporting arms, calls for voluntary trade sanctions and expands a list of officials and companies targeted for financial and travel restrictions.

Mohammad Khatami Congratulates all Iranians on Nowruz - Happy New Year

In his New Year Message, His Excellency Mohammad Khatami wishes success and prosperity for all Iranians wherevere they are, and better days for the whole World in 1386. You can view his Message in Persian here. (Click Here)

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

S.T.: Happy Nowruz Everyone

Mohammad Khatami: We should pay a certain price, and pay it bravely!

Khatami urges Iran to compromise on nuclear

According to an AFP Report: Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami made a rare intervention to urge his hardline successor to compromise and prevent a crisis with world powers over its nuclear programme, reports said Monday.

Khatami, reformist president from 1997 to 2005, told President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to make concessions over Iran's controversial atomic drive and avoid a second UN Security Council sanctions resolution.

"I believe we should pay a certain price, and pay it bravely, for talks and not head towards crisis as well as guaranteeing our rights in future," Khatami told the economic daily Sanaat va Tose'e (Industry and Development) in an interview.

"We must try to prevent the adoption of another resolution."

Khatami gave no indication of what the "price" might involve. The United States has repeatedly said negotiations with Iran are only possible if it first suspends sensitive nuclear work, which it has so far steadfastly refused to do.

He also said there was no longer a "taboo" about negotiating with the United States, which has had no diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980 but which participated alongside the Islamic republic in a Baghdad security conference on Saturday.

"This taboo has been broken, which prepares the ground to solve problems with a lower cost, taking into account the interests of the country," Khatami told a meeting of journalists later Monday.

Although Khatami did not mention the president or the government by name, his comments will be seen as a clear warning to Ahmadinejad, who has already been criticised in parliament and the press for his confrontational policies.

The government has repeatedly refused to give into the key demand that it suspend uranium enrichment, a process that the West fears could be diverted to make nuclear weapons.

The UN Security Council in December punished Iran's defiance by imposing its first ever sanctions against Tehran and is currently discussing a draft resolution that would step up the measures.

Khatami urged Iran to avoid provocations and act with prudence, in marked contrast to Ahmadinejad who has repeatedly vowed in the most graphic language that the nuclear programme will go on.

"We can prevent a crisis with discretion and courage. In nuclear and regional issues, especially Iraq, we should act with prudence and not provoke," said Khatami, whose comments were reported on the front page of the reformist Ayandeh-No (New Future).

Ahmadinejad has already stood accused in the press of using overly provocative language, especially when he compared Iran's nuclear programme to a train without either "reverse gear or brakes".

Since handing over the presidency to Ahmadinejad, Khatami has until now generally stayed out of day-to-day politics, devoting his time to working as head of a centre for dialogue between civilisations, one of the central planks of his own term of office.

He has rarely made remarks that could be interpreted as critical of the government although he raised eyebrows at home and abroad by staging high-profile visits to Britain and even Iran's arch enemy the United States.

The former president vehemently denied that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons but -- in contrast to the government -- appeared to express understanding for the West's concerns over its nuclear programme.

"Of course we don't want to make nuclear weapons but some people are concerned about proliferation of nuclear weapons. This is an important concern and we agreed to alleviate these concerns."

Khatami's intervention came amid renewed criticism in the press of Ahmadinejad, this time over his plan to attend the UN Security Council's deliberations over Iran's nuclear programme in person.