On His Brother's Coattails: Mohammad-Reza Khatami

Mohammad-Reza Khatami

Perhaps the most important new face to emerge in Iranian politics in the wake of the stunning victories by the reformists (See Page One and the Dossier ) is Mohammad-Reza Khatami, younger brother of President Mohammad Khatami, who surged to a strong first place in Tehran to solidify the victory of the reformers and of his party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), a party committed to supporting his older brother's reforms (though some in the party demand greater reforms than those advocated by the President to date). Though trained as a doctor and only recently dabbling in politics, the younger Khatami has strong revolutionary credentials — his wife is a granddaughter of Ruhollah Khomeini — and is seen as a strong supporter of his older brother.

Until former Interior Minister ‘Abdullah Nouri was jailed, he had been expected to lead the reformist list in Tehran and become the likely reform candidate for Speaker. But once Nouri was out of the race, the younger Khatami became a key player. Former President ‘Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani (Profile in the last issue) had hoped to return to the Speakership which he held in the 1980s, but Rafsanjani ran far down the list in Tehran and was likely to face a runoff, while Khatami has now emerged as a possible candidate for Speaker in his own right (though other reformists will also likely try for the job).

Mohammad-Reza Khatami was born in Ardakan, in the central province of Yazd, in 1959, the sixth of seven children; he is thus 16 years younger than President Khatami, who was born in 1943. Both men were sons of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khatami, the popular religious leader in Yazd and, after the Revolution, Friday Prayer Leader there. The elder Khatami was close to Ruhollah Khomeini, and Mohammad Khatami (the current President) was a good friend of Khomeini’s late son Ahmad.

At the time of the 1979 Revolution, Mohammad-Reza Khatami, then 20, served for a while on the Tehran Council of the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards), and then in the war with Iraq, where he was wounded. He then began medical studies, studying at Tehran University, and then spending a year at Guy Hospital in London. He trained as a specialist in renal (kidney) disorders, and he became an Assistant Professor at the Tehran University Medical School.

After his older brother’s election as President in 1997, the younger Khatami became Deputy Minister of Health. In late 1998, he was one of the co-founders of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, and subsequently left the Health Ministry to run for Parliament.

He was not originally seen as a major leader of the IIPF, and in fact, at one point he was not listed first on its candidate list for Tehran, even though after the disqualification and jailing of ‘Abdullah Nouri, the party was without a clearly visible leader. (Nouri’s brother, as well as Khatami, ran strongly in the elections.)

After emerging as the new leader of the IIPF in recent weeks, Khatami also took over as publisher of the party’s new publication, the daily Mohsharekat (Participation), which began publication in January. Although he has said that he is much influenced by his older brother’s positions and supports them, he and others in the party have taken some positions which go beyond the President’s, including implicit criticisms of the power of the Rahbar or religious leader.

Although his strong performance in the elections has made him the celebrity of the moment, more seasoned politicians may well challenge him for the Speakership.

He is married to Zahra Eshraqi, a granddaughter of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini. They have a son and a daughter.

Mohammad-Reza Khatami speaks Arabic and English in addition to Farsi.

© Copyright 2000, The International Estimate, Inc. No part of this web site, including its graphics, written content or any other material may be reprinted without the written permission of The International Estimate, Inc.