By Najmeh Bozorgmehr
Mohammad Khatami, the former reformist president of Iran, receives dozens of visitors who travel to Tehran to pay their respects.
Sitting on carpets in a spacious living room, the visitors, who come from all walks of life, are united in their demand: they want Mr Khatami to run for president in next June's election and end the era of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad.
The pressure on the 65-year-old cleric, who served as president for two terms before Mr AhmadiNejad, has intensified in recent weeks.
People from dozens of provinces across Iran have been streaming to his office, arguing that he is the only politician with sufficient popular support to beat Mr Ahmadi-Nejad - who is expected to run, although he has not yet declared his candidacy. Those clamouring for Mr Khatami's return include many reformists but also some prominent conservative politicians.
In a meeting attended by the Financial Times this month, one student representative told Mr Khatami that if he decides not to run, he will be ignoring the wishes of students, women and workers.
A woman activist joins in, saying a political leader should not stand back and expect to be invited to Iran's power circles - he must fight for his place. "If we stand up and move forward, then we will not be ashamed before God, the country and history," she says.
The emotional pleas, some laced with poetic verses, move the cleric to tears.
Mr Khatami tells his visitors that if he is hesitating, it is not because he is afraid of the challenge. The former president says he is not looking for a comfortable, non-controversial life. He simply wants to make sure that his candidacy would help, rather than exacerbate the country's problems.
But, should he become president again, Mr Khatami vows, he would not compromise on his call for a more democratic government.
The former president tells his guests that economic development cannot be achieved without democracy. "In this country democracy must rule . . . freedom must be defended," he says.
Next year's poll comes at a crucial time in Iran's nuclear dispute with the west. Although Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has the final say on nuclear policy, the president has significant influence.
Iran's presidential election comes as the US looks for a possible shift in policy towards Tehran, with the new administration of Barack Obama expected to try to launch a dialogue.
Officially, Mr Khatami has until April to register as a candidate but he is expected to make up his mind much sooner. Although some of those close to him say the pressure to run is becoming intolerable, Mr Khatami's reluctance is born out of his troubled experience during the two terms he served from 1997 to 2005.
His push to provide greater freedom to political and human rights activists was not always successful while many ordinary people felt his presidency ignored their daily economic struggles. The surprising 2005 victory of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, a radical conservative, was a harsh blow to reformists. Iran's hardliners have continued to undermine the reformists since, hoping to prevent them making a comeback.
Mr Khatami's supporters say they have more realistic expectations of what he can deliver if he were to become president again.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
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