Iran - President Mohammad Khatami

Moderate Khatami overwhelmingly defeated rival Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri-by a margin of 20 million votes over Nuri's 9.7 million votes-in the presidential elections of May 1997. Khatami is being hailed as "Ayatollah Gorbachev," but it remains to be seen what kind of reforming he can do. But this guy's no Jack Kennedy. Khatami was born in 1943 to a fundamentalist cleric and highly vocal critic of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Khatami followed in his dad's footsteps, being assigned to Hamburg, Germany, in 1978 to head an Islamic center dedicated to political change in Iran. He returned to Tehran after the shah fled Iran and Khomeini returned from exile in Paris. He was Iran's minister of culture and Islamic guidance in the 1980s, where he gained his reputation as a "cautious liberal." During his tenure at that post, Khatami allowed Western newspapers and magazines into Iran. He also lifted a ban on women singing in public, although the audiences were required to be all-female. Hey, it's a start. If Khatami moves at all with reforms, it will be gradually. He was ousted from ministerial power in the early 1990s during a backlash to lipstick and nail polish being worn by women. Sorta shows you what he's up against.

Khatami

The President

Pastor Ave.

Tehran, Iran

Tel. 98 (21) 61 61

http://www.gov.ir/khatami/khbio-e.htm

E-mail Khatami@president.ir