Khatami Condemns Fascism in Iran

President Mohammad Khatami has frequently voiced his disagreement with the intransigence of many of the ultra-conservative religious leaders in Iran. Rarely, however, has his disapproval of their actions and tactics been so strongly worded as in the statements recently released.

Monday Morning reports:

"The disaster today is that we are trying, through a fascist vision of religion and the revolution, to push out the competitor" from the political arena. According to the president, "the only way to defend Islam, independence and freedom is to twin religion with liberty", adding that Iranian society was becoming "bipolar and that is a great danger". Khatami charged that two groups were fighting his policies. "The first is made of those who compare reform to counter-revolution” the moderate cleric said, pointing to ultra-conservatives who he said charge that “presidential draft resolutions were manufactured by the United States and its lackeys inside the country". Khatami identified the second group among his detractors as "those who think that reform is the suppression of religion".

Khatami has made real efforts to reform religion and politics in Iran - as a consequence, he is wildly popular with the people. He is not, however, at all popular with the fundamentalist clerics who have veto power over his actions. Will he be able to continue leading Iran towards moderation and freedom, or will he always be thwarted?

Read More:

• Shia Islam
• Religion in Iran