TEHRAN: Former President Mohammad Khatami, who pushed for detente with the West when in office from 1997 to 2005, said yesterday he would run for the presidency again in June’s election.
The race will offer a stark choice for voters between Khatami and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose first four years in office have witnessed a sharp deterioration in ties with the West as tensions over Iran’s nuclear work mounted.
“Here I am announcing that I will seriously take part as a candidate for the election,” Khatami told a meeting of a pro-reform political group. “We should pay attention to having a free and legitimate election, and also secure a high turnout,” Khatami said.
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting its aim is to make electricity. US President Barack Obama has offered a new US approach to engage Iran, saying he would extend a hand of peace if the country would “unclench its fist.”
Some analysts say Washington may wait until the June result before spelling out any offer in detail. Iran, meanwhile, has set tough conditions for opening any dialogue, a move seen as a bid to buy time in part because of the pending vote.
Khatami worked for detente abroad and for political and social change at home while in office. But hard-liners in charge of major levers of power in the country blocked many of his reforms, costing Khatami some key supporters.
Ahmadinejad has faced mounting criticism over his economic management and surging inflation, which climbed to almost 30 percent last year. Reformists, in particular, say his fiery foreign policy speeches have further isolated Iran.
Khatami is likely to polarize the race, in which others have already declared, and may encourage conservatives to unite to prevent a reformist winning even though some of them have also criticized Ahmadinejad.
Analysts say the result of the vote could hinge on whether Ahmadinejad retains support of supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top authority who has publicly praised the president and whose words could sway millions of loyalists.
