TEHRAN — Iran's former president, Mohammad Khatami, a moderate, announced Sunday that he would run against incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a critical election in June that is shaping up as a referendum on the performance of the current conservative government.
After months of whispers about a possible run, Khatami's move is sure to bolster turnout in a contest that most analysts see as coming at a crucial juncture for the Islamic Republic and its relations with the outside world.
"I strongly announce my candidacy in the election," the cleric, 65, told reporters at the launch of a website for his political group, the Combatant Clergy Assn. "I had no hesitation from the very beginning,"
Iran's political system combines elements of a theocracy and democratic republic. The country holds regular elections for parliament and the presidency, but all candidates are vetted for loyalty by a powerful committee of jurists and clerics, and ultimate power over military and security matters rests with a cleric, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But it is the president who appoints ministers of interior, intelligence and foreign affairs and can heavily influence Iran's domestic and international policies.
Ahmadinejad's anti-Israeli rhetoric has made him toxic to the West. The Obama administration has indicated that it is willing to hold discussions with Iran, on issues that include suspicions about the nation's nuclear program. But the administration might prefer to negotiate with a less polarizing figure after the Jun. 12 elections.
Khatami's calls for a "Dialogue Among Civilizations" and attempts to normalize Tehran's relations with the West have won accolades abroad. He was twice elected president on platforms of increased social freedoms and moderate policies that attracted young and female voters. He was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.
Economic stagnation and political infighting overshadowed his presidency, which lasted from 1997 to 2005. Critics also viewed Khatami as either too weak or beholden to the political status quo to bring about meaningful change.
Still, on bread-and-butter issues Iran has fared even worse under his successor, Ahmadinejad, despite record international oil prices through much of his tenure. Unemployment and inflation are worse now than under Khatami.
