Arash Aramesh

Former President Mohammad Khatami said January 31, that he wants the Supreme Leader to be the leader of all Iranians and not just the leader of a certain faction within the Iranian government. His comment was a direct criticism of how Khamenei has sided with the hardliners around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

According to the BBC’s Persian service, Khatami, who was speaking at the House of Parties, said, “We want the Constitution and Islam. We want the Leader, who has an important role within the framework of the constitution, to be Leader of all people and the entire country.”

On February 2, Etemad, a reformist newspaper, published parts of Khatami’s speech and accused BBC Persian of misquoting the former president. Etemad claims that BBC selectively used parts of Khatami’s speech and employed misleading words for its headline. BBC Persian’s headline read in bold, “Khatami: We want the Leader to be the Leader of all people.”

According to Etemad, Khatami said, “Any faction or movement that seeks to degrade Islam, the Revolution, and the Supreme Leader, so he [the Leader] only belongs to that faction, is being unkind to the Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini], to the Revolution, and to Islam.”

According to Etemad, former President Khatami asserted, “The great fruit of the Islamic Revolution was the Islamic Republic.” He continued, “At that time, the Islamic Republic, and not the Islamic government, was supported by Imam Khomeini and the people. This is an important point.”

Khatami attacked the radical pro-government forces in Iran and said, “Whose hands are trying to hide behind sacred notions while they have an inherent animosity with everything?” referring to those radicals hiding behind the Supreme Leader and Islam, while attacking the ideals of the Islamic Revolution and violating the Iranian constitution.

Khatami continued by criticizing dishonesty and said, “They say [Khatami] wrote a letter, and he [Khatami] said certain things in that letter. These people have no idea about the contents of the letter and such things are not true to begin with.” Khatami was making reference to rumors about an alleged letter he wrote to Ayatollah Khamenei accepting President Ahmadinejad’s government and asking for some sort of rapprochement. Khatami has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a letter.

On the eve of the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, it is interesting that while the government and the opposition are preparing for a showdown, Khatami, who is known for his moderate tone and his centrist positions, makes controversial statements directed at the Supreme Leader and a day later, he denies having made those remarks.

It is unclear whether the leaders of the opposition, Mir Hossein Moussavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami are reaching a compromise deal with the government, but it is certain that their grievances are still strong and their demands have not been met by the regime.