Khatami and Abtahi, his former aide, are Shiite Muslim clerics who are being politically eclipsed in Iran by a new generation of men with backgrounds in the military or the Revolutionary Guards, an elite branch of the armed forces. The ranks of the emerging leaders include Ahmadinejad, who has announced his decision to run again.
Khamenei has been Iran's highest political and religious authority for nearly 20 years. The ranking ayatollah calls the shots on major foreign policy and security decisions and generally sets the parameters of domestic public debate.
Analysts say a decision by Khatami to run would show that he had enough confidence in the Iranian political system to grant him the possibility of winning. Khatami won 1997 and 2001 elections by huge margins, and his allies in parliament trounced conservatives in 2000.
But many of Khatami's attempts to moderate Iran's foreign and domestic policies were thwarted by hard-line conservatives who controlled other branches of government, and conservatives returned to power. Khatami was constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term in 2005 elections.
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daragahi@latimes.com
Mostaghim is a special correspondent.
