(Bloomberg) -- Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami is likely to heed the people’s “invitation” and run against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Persian Gulf country’s presidential election on June 12, a close associate said.
The comments by Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who served as a vice- president under Khatami between 2001 and 2004, were the strongest indication yet that Khatami will run and followed an announcement yesterday that Ahmadinejad will seek a second term.
The people’s “invitation for Mr. Khatami to stand in the presidential election has been taking shape organically,” Abtahi said in an interview today, adding that in his view Khatami would “respond to this invitation by running.”
Khatami, who lobbied for improved relations with the West during his two terms as president between 1997 and 2005, has criticized Ahmadinejad’s policies for failing to revive the economy. Ali Akbar Javanfekr, the president’s press affairs adviser, said late yesterday that Ahmadinejad will “naturally seek re-election” so he can complete the government’s programs.
Ahmadinejad, a former Tehran mayor, was elected in 2005 after pledging to broaden the distribution of the country’s oil wealth. He has engaged in disputes with Western countries over issues including Iran’s nuclear program, which the U.S. and several major allies say is aimed at developing an atomic bomb. The government in Tehran denies the charge, insisting that the work is peaceful and designed to generate electricity.
‘Managerial Change’
“The approach taken by the current government in regards to the nation’s economic resources and its foreign policy requires managerial change,” Abtahi said in the interview.
Khatami has sounded unsure as to whether he should run in past weeks. While saying that he preferred to stay away from the race, he has emphasized that his decision will be based on “the country and people’s interests.”
Earlier this month, Khatami said that either he or Mir Hossein Mousavi, who held the office of prime minister in the 1980s, would run against Ahmadinejad.
Khatami has also indicated that he wanted assurances that he’d have sufficient authority to implement his policies. Under the Iranian constitution, the ultimate power-wielder is the supreme leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Dress Codes
Under Khatami’s presidency, social customs relaxed and cultural activities flourished. Women walking and talking with men from outside their families in public became common and while the principle of the Islamic dress code remained, women started wearing colorful scarves and shorter and tighter coats. The authorities have been stricter about clothing styles under Ahmadinejad’s government, while a dozen newspaper and magazines have been shut down in recent years, some for criticizing the government.
In 2006, during a visit to the U.S., Khatami told a crowd at Harvard University the relationship between Iran and the U.S. is among the most important in the world and both need to work toward understanding each other, and he condemned the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the U.S. The following year, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Khatami spoke of his “respect” for U.S. civilization.
Ahmadinejad yesterday said the change promised by Barack Obama during his presidential campaign means he must apologize for U.S. “crimes” against Iran, including American support for a 1953 coup and the backing of Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war.
‘Door of Respect’
“We welcome change if it’s fundamental and in the right direction,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech televised from the western province of Kermanshah. “Real change is change in the tone of talks with people, to enter from the door of respect, and not to pursue expansion and imperialism.”
This week Iranian armed forces Chief of Staff Hassan Firouzabadi was criticized by Mehdi Karrubi, a former parliamentary speaker, for backing the re-election of Ahmadinejad. Karrubi, a cleric who has announced he will stand in the race, warned against the military’s “meddling in political debates.”
No opinion polls have been released yet on the public’s preferences in the election.
Politicians seeking more democracy in Iran, who campaigned as part of Khatami’s Reformists’ Coalition in March’s parliamentary elections, won about 16 percent of the 290 assembly seats, official results showed.
Candidates adhering to a system under which Islamic clerics wield ultimate power over policy, including Ahmadinejad’s supporters, won 69 percent of seats.
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