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Mohammad Khatami (محمد خاتمی in Persian) (born October 1943) is the fifth and current President of Iran. He was elected president on May 23, 1997. He was re-elected in 2001 for a second term.
He won largely due to the female and youth vote, who voted for him because he promised to improve the status of women and respond to the demands of the young generation in Iran.
Khatami is regarded as Iran's first reformist president, since the focus of his campaign was on the rule of law, democracy and the inclusion of all Iranians in the political decision-making process. However his policies of reform have led to repeated clashes with the conservative Islamists in the Iranian government, who control powerful governmental organizations like the Guardian Council whose members are appointed by the Supreme Leader.In perhaps his greatest triumph President Mohammad Khatami named Seyed Hossein Mar'ashi Vice President and chairman of the Organization of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. The Mar'ashi appointment has allowed some progress to be made in Khatami's final year.
Before serving as a president, Khatami has been the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance (resigning May 24, 1992), and the head of the National Library of Iran from 1992 to 1997.
The United Nations titled the year 2001 as the United Nation's Year of Dialogue of Civilizations, as per Khatami's suggestion.
Besides his native language Persian, he speaks Arabic, English and German.
External links
- Biography (Iranian presidency website)
- Iranian dissidents