Khatami, Seyyed Muhammad (1943- )

Iranian reformist political leader, president since 1997. Backed by the Servants of Iran's Construction Party (popularly known as G-16), the urban middle classes, and left-wing groups, he was elected president in May 1997, with nearly 70% of the popular vote. He faced severe opposition to his reforms from Islamic conservatives, and a new pro-reform Islamic Participation Front party was founded in December 1998 to support him. He was re-elected in June 2001, with 77% of the vote.

Khatami, who is effectively head of government, sought reconciliation with the West, as a means of improving the economy. Much of the opposition he faced came from the judiciary, who closed down pro-democracy publications and charged a number of his supporters with crimes relating to expression and thought.

Born in Ardakan, Khatami was a graduate of the religious science centre in Qom and also studied theology and philosophy in Hamburg, Germany. During the 1970s, he was active in resistance to the westernizing Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, though he acquired a reputation for religious tolerance and political liberalism. He returned to Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and was elected a Majlis (parliamentary) deputy in 1980. From 1982, as minister of culture, he eased censorship, allowing more foreign publications into Iran. This provoked conservative attacks, culminating in his resignation in July 1992, after being accused of excessive leniency towards westernized intellectuals.

In May 1999, Khatami paid a ground-breaking visit to Saudi Arabia, ending the longest-running hostility between Iran and its Arab Gulf neighbours.