Mohammad Khatami: ‘The Country Can be Run Better’

Iran's ex-president on why change is on the way.

Published May 23, 2009

From the magazine issue dated Jun 1, 2009

Email To A Friend

Please fill in the following information and we'll email this link.

Do you think the majority of Iranians support the reformists?
I think most people think that the country can be run better than this. Even though our government has the best of intentions in mind, I don't think that right decisions have been made to improve the level of respect that Iranian nation should enjoy in the world. The world can have a better image of Iran and Iranians. We can use our resources to help people have better jobs, welfare and development in general in the country. I think instead of thinking about reformist ideals we should think about a change. And I'm sure the candidates for presidency such as Mr. Moussavi will pave the way so we can move towards reformist ideals.

What can reformists achieve in the elections?
We object to legal restrictions which determine which candidates are qualified or disqualified. Even though those restrictions are legal, we oppose that filtering system. Despite all these restrictions, people's vote will be the determining factor. I think the presence of people in voting stations will show that Iran can be in a better position domestically and internationally. And that people's votes count in our country.

Do you think Mr. Moussavi could carry out the reforms people are asking from him?
No one can fully satisfy people's idealistic demands. No candidate will be able to do it. And our people know that quite well. Reformism is not a project that can be carried out overnight. I don't think all the slogans are right. Some of them are the result of people's emotions and not logic. People know that we can't achieve all our goals in a 3 or 4 year period.

Mr. Moussavi believes in freedom and people's participation in the governance of the country. So he will definitely prepare the ground for us, reformists, to work among the people even if we will not be in power. Reforms require certain plans and ideas that should be carried in the course of time. We couldn't reach the reformist objectives during my eight-year presidency. Our nation, I believe, has been fighting for reforms for the past 100 years. They have been fighting for three things: Freedom, independence and development. Our nation suffered from despotism, from foreign intervention and most importantly from lack of development.

Why are you such a popular politician?
I'm not 100 percent sure why. [Iranians] can never tolerate humiliation and despotism, like under the dictatorships before the revolution. So when a leader respects the people and regards them as his masters, then people respect that politician.

My best memory of my presidency was during my last year as president. I was delivering a speech in the university and there were many students who were shouting and screaming their criticisms against me. I told them that this is a great achievement of the revolution that a group of students are criticizing the president of the country, the second most important person in the country, openly and don't even worry about the consequences.

Why did you withdraw from the race?
It looked like people really wanted me to become a candidate because I seemed to have a better chance to win. I changed my mind when Mr. Moussavi became a candidate. Mr. Moussavi is one of the best politicians in Iran and we always wanted him to be more active. He used to refuse to take part in the elections but this time around he thought that he should get involved. Before my announcement I insisted that Mr. Moussavi should become a candidate. He didn't want to make a fast decision. I told him that he should announce his candidacy earlier rather than later. He has realized now that he should've entered the race earlier.

Is it true that you got a personal request from the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah ali Khamenei, to withdraw?
That's a baseless rumor.

You have said that many people are not happy with the current situation in the country. Why it that?
We had a revolution (in 1979) to establish an Islamic Republic based on people's votes. We have a historic opportunity to develop democracy in our country. I don't think our current government moves in a direction that can reach those objectives, even though it was elected by popular vote and I'm sure is has the best of intentions. Our interests can be protected better. We can use the resources in the country better than we are doing now. For example, the rising oil prices in the past few years could result in a real progress and development of the country. I think the overall situation in our country could be better than it is now. There may be some people who try to deceive people by distributing the income of the country among people and make them temporarily happy. But this will be counterproductive in the long-run. Because the decision had not been made in a democratic process, it would only result in inflation and even more poverty in the long run.

You recently mentioned that Iran has lost place in the region and in the world. Could you elaborate?
I think we could adopt more logical policies so that we could have more of a say in what is going on in our region. We are a great nation because of our culture and history. The Western countries think of Iran as a problem that should be solved. I always tell them, "You should see Iran as part of the solution rather than part of the problem." Iran is a country with rich history, civilization and culture that can help the West to improve the situation.

We, Iranians, also have to ask ourselves whether we have used this unique position we have to improve the situation in Iran. I do not think so. Because of some of our wrong policies, sanctions and pressures against Iran have increased. Iran has some principles for which it is ready to pay a price. The question is if it's necessary to pay such price.