Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami declared Sunday he would run again for president. Khatami's candidacy poses a serious challenge to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"I seriously announce my candidacy in the next (presidential) election," Khatami announced Sunday after a meeting with his supporters. According to the AP, he said he decided to seek the presidency in the June 12 vote because it was impossible for someone like himself who was interested in the fate of Iran to remain silent. The 65-year-oldleader said he is "attached to the country's greatness and the people's right to have control over their own fate."
In 1997, Khatami defeated hard-liners who had ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in a landslide presidential victory. He is credited with relaxing some of Iran's rigid restrictions on cultural and social activities, including bans on music bands and on certain books and movies that previously were deemed un-Islamic.
