M Khatami

[Rasputin]

Khatami's visit has upset Jewish groups and some lawmakers
Ex-Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has delivered a scathing criticism of US foreign policy to an annual gathering of Muslims in Illinois.
He said US anti-terrorism policies were actually inciting terrorism and accused the US of trying to dominate the world.

Mr Khatami is the most senior Iranian official to visit the US since the severing of ties with Iran in 1979.

He was speaking at the Islamic Society of North America convention, which has drawn tens of thousands of Muslims.

'False perception'

Mohammad Khatami was the most anticipated speaker at the convention and his speech was surprisingly direct.

As America claims to be fighting terrorism it implements policies which lead to the intensification of terrorism

Mohammad Khatami

Within minutes of taking the podium he was attacking the portrayal of Islam in the popular media in the West.

"Media Islam is the result of a one-sided understanding of Islam that is represented to us in a solitary, cliched and vicious way," he said.

"The political version of Islam that is displayed is merely an imaginary version of Islam. What has been stated is a dark and false perception of Islam and the East."

The perceived behaviour of Western power was a key theme of the speech.

Mr Khatami referred to vast, all-encompassing powers that expressed concern for the world, but implemented policies aimed at devouring it.

And he directly criticised US policies, which he said exploited "the grandeur of the nation and country of the United States for the subjugation and domination of the world".

He added: "As America claims to be fighting terrorism it implements policies which lead to the intensification of terrorism and institutionalised violence."

The three-day conference in Rosemont, Illinois, has drawn tens of thousands of Muslims from Canada and around the United States.

The US State Department had issued Mr Khatami a visitor's visa with no restrictions, a move that upset Jewish groups and some lawmakers here.

Mr Khatami is expected to travel to Washington and then speak at events at the United Nations and Harvard University.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Deeply dismayed

Reverend Canon John L. Peterson, Director
Washington DC.

The Honorable Rev. Peterson:

We learned that you are hosting a speech by Mohammad Khatami, former president and one of the high-ranking officials of the Islamic regime in Iran since it inception in 1979.

We are deeply dismayed that the Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation which promotes justice, transparency, accountability and empowerment of women has invited and is honoring this man who is anti-woman, corrupt and responsible for murder of so many innocent people!

Today is the 18th anniversary of massacre of thousands of political prisoners in the summer of 1988, by the Islamic regime. The victims were buried in mass graves without their families and relatives knowing about their burial sites.

During Khatami’s presidency, torturing and physical elimination of political activists, students, writers and journalists continuously actually increased. In July 2003 the Public Prosecutor of Tehran murdered Mrs. Zahra Kazemi an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist in detention. Many pro-democracy students were killed and imprisoned. Writers Saeedi Sirjani, Mohammad Mokhtari, Mohammad Javad Pouyandeh and others were murdered.

Ministry of Intelligence agents murdered Mr. Daryoush Forouhar general secretary of Iran’s Mellat Party, and his wife in their home. All of these happened during Khatami’s presidency. The list is very long and these are just a few samples. For these and other reasons the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has condemned the Islamic regime for severe violation of human rights on 52 occasions in a three years period alone!

According to July 2004 report of International Federation for Human Rights, the Islamic republic of Iran is ranked 160th out of 166 countries in terms of freedom of expression, and this was during Khatami’s presidency!

Dear Rev. Peterson, how can one promote justice and at the same time honor a person like Khatami, who is responsible for so many crimes against humanity? Please let us understand, how to reconcile this contradiction!

We feel Justice will be promoted if we all try to bring Khatami and his associates to justice under an independent International Court.

You promote empowerment of women, but Khatami and his associates in the Islamic regime are all anti-woman. The Islamic regime has practiced gender apartheid and many women have been stoned to death every year including during Khatami's presidency! Now you are honoring this man!

Dear Canon Peterson, you promote transparency and accountability, but the Islamic regime is one of the most corrupt on the face of the planet. According to an Economist Intelligence report in early 2002 (Khatami’s presidency), a corruption scandal was exposed and Shahram Jazayeri a 29 year old business man, confessed he had given money to as many as 60 reformist deputies supporters of Khatami in the Parliament. This included $700,000 to President Khatami, the man you are honoring on September 7th 2006!

Dear Canon Peterson,

The Islamic regime and Mohammad Khatami as its president for 8 years never had “dialogue” with the Iranian people and all attempts for dialogue by the people systematically were suppressed. The regime and Khatami, one of its pillars is against Persian Civilization. During Khatami’s presidency they continued construction of Sivand dam near Passargad, that will flood the tomb of Cyrus the Great and the rest of what is left of the Persian heritage in Pasargad. The Islamic regime instead of “dialogue” is advocating that Israel be wiped off the map. How can Khatami who represents, a regime of anti-civilization and anti-dialogue, credibly talk about “Dialog of Civilizations”?

Dear Rev. Peterson,

There is an ocean of blood separating the Islamic regime and 95 percent of the Iranian people. No force can bridge and reconcile this wide and inhumane gap, except the power of justice and liberty. This will happen at the time when an independent International Court is organized and Mohammad Khatami, your guest of honor, and his associates sit on the defense bench and families and relatives of the victims of the regime on the other side. I feel that time is approaching, and we would like to have you as a guest of honor in that Court, to witness the cries, tears and suffering of the men, women and children of God who have suffered and lost so much at the hands of Islamic regime and its cohorts!

Respectfully,

Siavash Abghari, Ph.D., President
Esmail Khoi Foundation
Cultural & Human Rights Organisation
Atlanta, Georgia

[Rasputin]

Ex-Iranian leader blames Bush policies for terrorism

U.S. foreign policy is furthering terrorism in the Muslim world, and negotiations are the only way to resolve the impasse over Iran's nuclear ambitions, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told CNN while on a two-week visit to the United States.

The reformist leader is widely viewed as moderate compared with new President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As president, Khatami favored stronger U.S. ties.

In an interview Sunday with CNN, Khatami said American policies have "only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region."
In the interview, he also broke with his hard-line successor by saying he does not call for Israel's destruction.

But he defended Iran's support for Hezbollah, calling the Lebanon-based militant group a resistance organization. And though Hezbollah used Iranian weapons in its recent war with Israel, Khatami denied that Iran contributes to violence in the Middle East.

Asked what he would tell President Bush if he could speak with him, Khatami replied: "I would tell him that the United States, with all of its might and resources, can, side by side with the good people of the Middle East, bring about a new experience and the creation of democracy and the advancement of democracy, even though the way to democracy may have been slow originating in the Mideast. With a change of the language going from threats to ... mutual understanding, the United States can have a better position in the region.

"And, quite frankly, I would tell him that the policies that the United States has chosen unfortunately have brought about the wrong sentiment toward the United States and has only increased, and will only increase, extremism in our region."

He argued that the U.S. invasion of Iraq has increased hatred for the United States in the Mideast, leading more young people to join terrorist groups.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran, which Bush branded as part of the "axis of evil" in his 2002 State of the Union address, along with North Korea and Iraq, then led by Saddam Hussein.

Denies Iran wants nuclear weapons
Though no longer in the Tehran government, the former president is the highest-ranking Iranian to visit the United States since the 1979 revolution, which brought the Islamic regime to power.

Khatami has not been invited to meet with any U.S. officials but is speaking at private engagements. He is scheduled to take part in a conference of the Alliance of Civilizations at the United Nations in New York, and he has been invited to speak at the National Cathedral in Washington.

His trip comes amid a stalemate over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Tehran last week refused a U.N. deadline to stop uranium enrichment despite a threat of possible sanctions.

Khatami stood by his government's contention that Iran is not trying to build a nuclear weapon. U.S. and European leaders argue Tehran is trying to use a nuclear energy program as a guise to build an atomic weapon.

"It has never been the policy or the mind-set of any branch of the Iranian government to pursue atomic weapons, which can be the source of vast numerous killings in the world," Khatami said.

He admitted that Iranians "are definitely worried" that the United States could lead an attack against their country and "hopeful that such a thing would not take place."

The Bush administration has said the military option cannot be taken off the table.

"Quite frankly, I think the United States has caused itself enough problems in Iraq," Khatami added.

Iran has called for further talks on the issue, but John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Monday that Tehran will get nowhere in negotiations until it meets the U.N. demand.

"They don't want to talk about the fundamental precondition established by the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and that is they must suspend their uranium enrichment activity," Bolton said.

Part of the concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions stems from Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

"I personally never said that Israel should be wiped off the map," Khatami told CNN. "I always said and backed fair and equal peace in the region."

He declined to call for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, instead saying, "People there have to decide."

Objections to Khatami's trip to U.S.

Some have raised objections to the former Iranian leader's visit to the United States.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Jewish human rights group based in Los Angeles, California, fought the U.S. decision to grant Khatami a visa. The center said more than 14,000 people had signed its online petition before Khatami's arrival last week.

The group cited Khatami's past remarks calling Israel "a parasite in the heart of the Muslim world" and comparing Bush to Osama bin Laden.

Asked about drawing that comparison, Khatami told CNN, "I said those who bring about violence have a lot in common," and condemned leaders "who think of themselves as superior."

Terrorism and war "have one origin, one spark, one frame of mind, and we have to keep ourselves away from this," he said.

Khatami, in the CNN interview, also called on Muslim world leaders to show "the true face of the Islamic faith," which he said stands for "peace and equality."

[Rasputin]

حضور خاتمی درامريكا
و گمانه زنی ها پيرامون
مذاكرات مهم سياسی- اتمی




اخبار و گزارش های مربوط به فعاليت های اتمی جمهوری اسلامی، از روز شنبه ای كه پشت سر ماند، به يكباره متوقف شده است. درابتدا اين تصور وجود داشت كه اين ركود خبری ناشی از سفر دبيركل سازمان ملل به ايران باشد، اما پايان اين سفر و بی نتيجه اعلام شدن آن نيز تغييری در ركودی خبری نداد و اين درحالی است كه هم پاسخ جمهوری اسلامی به طرح 1+5 منفی ارزيابی شده و هم مهلت تعيين شده در قطعنامه شورای امنيت برای توقف غنی سازی درايران پايان يافته است. اعلام دو هفته فرصت تازه به ايران از سوی اتحاديه اروپا نيز با سفر همآهنگ كننده سياست خارجی اين اتحاديه به ايران به پايان می رسد. سفری كه حاصل آن اگر بی نتيجه تر از سفر كوفی عنان دبيركل سازمان ملل به ايران نباشد، همطراز آنست. مصاحبه شب گذشته سخنگوی وزارت خارجه جمهوری اسلامی كه از سيما پخش شد، اين نتيجه را از پيش قطعی كرد.

سايت گلوبال كه معمولا اخبار مهم مربوط به روابط امريكا با ايران و بويژه خطر حمله نظامی امريكا به ايران را منتشر می كند، درآخرين تفسيری كه منتشر كرده، مدعی شده است كه امريكا درحاليكه با نرمش سئوال برانگيزی راه های ديپلماتيك را برای مذاكره اتمی با ايران در برابر اتحاديه اروپا و حتی سازمان ملل متحد می گشايد، نه تنها به اشكال مختلف مانع به نتيجه رسيدن اين راه حل ها می شود، بلكه همچنان سرگرم تدارك يك حمله نظامی برق آسا و هولناك به ايران است.

اما، بدشواری می توان پذيرفت كه اين ترفند امريكا دليل اصلی ركود خبری و فروكش كردن اخبار مربوط به فعاليت های اتمی ايران و احتمال حمله نظامی است.

بنابراين، يگانه احتمالی كه باقی می ماند و در تهران نيز، در برخی محافل سياسی با وسواس منتظر نتيجه آن هستند، سفر خاتمی و حضور وی در امريكا و بويژه سخنرانی است كه او در يك كنفرانس سازمان ملل قرار است ايراد كند. اين حدس و گمان ها كه درعالی ترين سطوح در تهران جريان دارد، بر اين محور دور می زند كه امريكا منتظر نتيجه مذاكرات جدی است كه احتمالا خاتمی درامريكا پيش می برد. واكنش های عصبی وابستگان به دولت احمدی نژاد از يكسو و سكوت تائيد آميز رهبر و بلندپايگان روحانی و نظامی از سوی ديگر نشان دهنده اهميت حضور خاتمی در امريكا و دستآوردی است كه او با خود به تهران خواهد آورد.

[Rasputin]

NEW YORK — Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said Monday that U.S. forces should remain in Iraq until that country's fragile government can assume greater control.
In an interview here during his first trip to the United States since leaving office a year ago, Khatami said, "We can't leave this newly formed government at the mercy of terrorists and insurgents."

Khatami is a moderate Islamic cleric who was president from 1997 to 2005. By law, he could not seek a third consecutive term. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-line fundamentalist.

Despite the change in the leadership, Khatami said that Iran is not the enemy of the United States and that the two countries share strategic interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Khatami said Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, didn't provide weapons to Iraqi Shiites while he was in power. He said he doubts that the current leadership is doing so, as has been charged by U.S. officials including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "No one will benefit as much as Iran from peace and stability in Iraq," he said.

Addressing the issue that is creating the most tension between Iran and the international community, Khatami urged the Bush administration and his own government to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program through negotiations.

While not directly criticizing his successor, Khatami noted that when he was in office, Iran suspended efforts to make nuclear fuel and agreed to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran has reversed both policies in the past year and rejected an Aug. 31 United Nations deadline to either suspend its uranium enrichment program or face sanctions. "Sanctions are to the detriment of Iran," Khatami said. "Sanctions — and, even worse than that, military action — will only serve to complicate the issue, not solve the problem."

He criticized both Ahmadinejad and President Bush for using intemperate language that has heightened tensions. "A politician must conduct himself at the highest level of etiquette and diplomacy," Khatami said, when asked about Ahmadinejad's comments threatening Israel and denying the Holocaust. Khatami said he hoped Bush's use of the term "Islamic fascism" to describe countries such as Iran "is a misquote. It would be unfortunate that a president of the great nation of America would use words in such an irresponsible way."

Khatami spent the weekend in Chicago, where he told a conference of U.S. Muslims that the U.S.-led war on terrorism is increasing violence and Muslim hatred for the West. He attends meetings at the U.N. today and Wednesday, then flies to Washington to speak at National Cathedral.

Khatami, 62, now heads a group called the International Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations, based in Tehran and Geneva. He said he was devoting his time to trying to increase understanding among nationalities, religious and ethnic groups.

He described his visit as private and said he had not sought to meet U.S. officials.

Several U.S. politicians and interest groups criticized the State Department for giving Khatami a visa. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., called Khatami "one of the chief propagandists of the Islamic fascist regime." State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Khatami was eligible to visit as a private citizen.

Khatami visited New York three times as president but was never allowed to go outside New York. Asked his impressions of the country so far, Khatami said he was happy to have the chance to travel with fewer restrictions but that to see America fully would require "much more time."

[Rasputin]

The stormy saga between the United States and Iran takes one of its most unusual turns since the 1979 revolution as former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami arrives in Washington to give a major address on Thursday, the same day that the Bush administration holds talks in Europe on new U.N. sanctions on Tehran.

Khatami's five-city U.S. tour this week has ignited both controversy and curiosity -- infuriating former hostages from the 1979-1981 U.S. Embassy seizure and alarming some in Congress but winning praise from foreign policy experts. The former president's speech at Washington National Cathedral is a hot ticket, with attendance now by invitation only.

Khatami's visit has also been controversial in Tehran, where a newspaper called the U.S. visa "suspicious" and a critic suggested the Shiite cleric should be defrocked for committing "worse than a sin" in his trip to the United States. Many Iranian exiles in this country are also enraged, with some threatening protests. Yet Iran's supreme leader and its hard-line current president did not try to block the visit, Iranian sources said.

Khatami's tour comes as the State Department presses for punitive action for Iran's failure to meet a U.N. deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, a process for nuclear energy that can be converted to develop a nuclear weapon. As an incentive, Washington held out the prospect of joining European talks with Iran and ending 27 years of hostility. But Iran spurned the European-designed package.

"We've been trying hard to show there are two paths here," Undersecretary of State R. Nicholas Burns said. "That's why we made the offer to negotiate. They clearly have not accepted that path, so now we have to begin the sanctions process."

Burns will meet in Berlin on Thursday with diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia to discuss which sanctions to impose on Iran, the first leg of what may be a heated debate. The administration hopes Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be able to wrap up the resolution when she attends the General Assembly opening later this month.

But the administration is not cutting off all forms of dialogue. "We're going to maintain a policy of no contact between the two governments, but at the same time, that doesn't mean that Americans outside government shouldn't be talking to Iranians. Americans should take every opportunity to address the concerns we have over terrorism and nuclear issues with Iranians who visit our country," Burns said.

Khatami, who was president for the two-term limit from 1997 to 2005, is the highest-ranking Iranian to visit Washington since the Carter administration severed ties in 1980. He is also speaking in Boston, Charlottesville, Chicago and New York on the role of the three Abrahamic faiths in the peace process. He turned down an invitation to meet with former president Jimmy Carter, partly because of scheduling conflicts, according to Iranian sources.

Foreign policy analysts say the administration is signaling that it will not close the door on reformers such as Khatami who favor a freer press, political openings and dialogue with the world, while it will isolate hard-liners such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for violating U.N. resolutions and talking about wiping Israel off the map.

But human rights groups say Khatami's government also violated human rights and supported extremist groups. He was president when President Bush labeled Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, the "axis of evil" in 2002.

"He never wanted to create instability or a situation that would lead to violent confrontation," said Hadi Ghaemi of Human Rights Watch, an international monitoring group. "He was devoted to preserving the Islamic regime . . . so he never challenged those who had real power."

Many problems -- the crackdown on student protests, banning of new independent newspapers, and arrests and deaths of critics -- were linked to hard-liners in the separate judiciary or vigilantes sanctioned by Iranian intelligence. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, also has veto power over all government actions.

[Rasputin]

Former hostages are outspoken about Khatami's visit. "Can an ex-U.S. president do the same in Iran?" asked John W. Limbert Jr., former embassy political officer. Kevin J. Hermening, an embassy Marine guard and the youngest hostage, said U.S. officials have "completely lost their minds" in dealing with Iran. "Every time we agree to 'talks' it is seen as another indication of weakness and capitulation," he said.

Giving Khatami a visa was a "despicable" decision by the State Department, said former embassy press attaché Barry M. Rosen. "His dialogue of civilizations is nothing more than a public relations stunt by the oppressive regime."

L. Bruce Laingen, who was the ranking U.S. hostage, said he will attend the speech because he believes in talks, despite serious problems with the regime and doubts that Khatami has any power since Ahmadinejad replaced him.

In a 1998 interview with CNN, Khatami said he regretted that American feelings were "hurt" by the embassy seizure -- adding that U.S. policies had also seriously hurt Iranians. "In the heat of the revolutionary fervor, things happen which cannot be fully contained or judged according to usual norms," he said.

Like other hostages, Laingen said those words were not enough. "The question I would put to him would be: What do you think your government owes the hostages -- and I don't mean money, but something more than what he said to CNN."

Foreign policy experts largely approve of the Khatami visit. Geoffrey Kemp, a Reagan administration national security official now at the Nixon Center, called the decision "quite smart" and added: "We have nothing to lose by listening to Mr. Khatami . . . since he is highly influential behind the scenes."

Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Washington had missed a "huge opportunity" to engage with an "imminently engageable leader" when Khatami was president, all the more striking just a year later under Ahmadinejad's rule.

Senior Clinton State Department official Wendy Sherman said the United States might not be in confrontation with Iran if Khatami's visit had happened six years ago.

But Danielle Pletka, a vice president at the American Enterprise Institute, called the Khatami visit "surreal" and disputed descriptions of him as a "pragmatic mullah."

"If someone at the State Department can prove that the nuclear program didn't improve under Khatami, that terrorists weren't sponsored under Khatami and that arms were not shipped to Hezbollah under Khatami, then by all means let's label him a pragmatist and embrace him," she said.

Congressional leaders also criticized the trip. In a letter to Rice, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) appealed for the visa to be denied because the State Department had ranked Iran the No. 1 sponsor of terrorism every year Khatami was president.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom wrote the Washington National Cathedral to complain about the "troubling irony" of inviting Khatami to speak on interfaith cooperation when he presided over a government that imprisoned, harassed, tortured and even executed religious minorities.

Commission Chairman Felice Gaer called on the cathedral to appeal to the former Iranian leader to "denounce and express regret" for past violations of religious freedom.

[Rasputin]

محمد خاتمی، رييس جمهوری سابق ايران، در مصاحبه ای ضمن تاييد واقعيت هلوکاست، همزيستی اسرائيل و فلسطين را قابل قبول دانسته است.
روزنامه فايننشال تايمز (تايمز مالی) در شماره روز 5 سپتامبر، زيرعنوان ايران راه حل دو کشور را می پذيرد متن مصاحبه ای را با محمد خاتمی را که در آمريکا انجام شده منتشر کرده است که وی در آن نظرات خود را پيرامون بحران خاورميانه، موجوديت اسرائيل و مساله هسته ای ايران مطرح می کند.

فايننشال تايمز از قول آقای خاتمی می نويسد که ايران همزيستی يک کشور فلسطينی را که آماده برای زندگی در کنار اسرائيل باشد قابل قبول می داند مشروط بر اينکه دولت به رهبری حماس که حاصل برگزاری انتخابات است آزادانه چنين وضعيتی را بپذيرد.

فايننشال تايمز می افزايد که در اين مصاحبه اختصاصی، آقای خاتمی از اظهارات محمود احمدی نژاد، رييس جمهوری تندرو، فاصله گرفت که هولوکاست را يک افسانه خوانده و گفته بود که بايد فلسطينيان، اسرائيل را از نقشه محو کنند.

اين روزنامه می نويسد که آقای خاتمی، که يک روحانی و ارشدترين سياستمدار ايرانی است که از زمان انقلاب اسلامی سال 1979 تا کنون از آمريکا ديدن می کند، برای يک سفر دوازده روزه خصوصی به منظور سخنرانی به اين کشور سفر کرده است.


فکر می کنم که جنبش حماس هم، که در پی يک روند دموکراتيک به قدرت رسيده، حاضر است در کنار اسرائيل زندگی کند با اين شرط که حقوق آن مراعات شود و با آن مانند يک حکومت دموکراتيک و دولت فلسطينی برخورد کنند و فشار از روی حماس برداشته شود


محمد خاتمی در مصاحبه با فايننشال تايمز

به نوشته اين روزنامه، محمد خاتمی با انتقاد از سياست دولت جورج بوش در زمينه "مبارزه با تروريسم" گفت که ايالات متحده باعث برافروختن تعارض و تحريک احساسات شده و در مورد موضوع هسته ای ايران نيز موضع دولت کشور در رد درخواست آمريکا برای تعليق غنی سازی اورانيوم به عنوان پيش شرط مذاکرات را تکرار کرد.

فايننشال تايمز می نويسد که در پاسخ به اين سئوال که آيا ايران راه حلی مبتنی بر وجود دو کشور فلسطين و اسرائيل برای درگيری خاورميانه را می پذيرد، آقای خاتمی موضعی آشتی جويانه تر را در پيش گرفت و گرچه در حال حاضر، يک شهروند عادی ايران است، تاکيد کرد که اظهارات وی منطبق با سياست دولت ايران است.

احترام به نظر فلسطينيان

محمد خاتمی در اين مورد گفت "فکر می کنم که جنبش حماس هم، که در پی يک روند دموکراتيک به قدرت رسيده، حاضر است در کنار اسرائيل زندگی کند با اين شرط که حقوق آن مراعات شود و با آن مانند يک حکومت دموکراتيک و دولت فلسطينی برخورد کنند و فشار از روی حماس برداشته شود" و افزود که "البته هرچه فلسطينيان بپذيرند برای ما محترم است."

فايننشال تايمز می نويسد که سياست اعلام شده ايران اين است که تمامی فلسطينيان بايد از طريق همه پرسی آينده خود را تعيين کنند و آقای خاتمی ارشد ترين سياستمدار ايرانی است که امکان همزيستی دو کشور اسرائيل و فلسطين را به عنوان راه حلی برای بحران خاورميانه قبول می کند.

خاتمی از اظهارات احمدی نژاد در مورد هولوکاست فاصله گرفت

به نوشته اين روزنامه، آقای خاتمی گفته است که سياست رسمی و اعلام شده ايران در مورد اسرائيل از زمان انتخاب آقای احمدی نژاد تغييری نکرده است و با اشاره به نقش رهبر جمهوری اسلامی، گفته است که رييسان جمهوری ايران "ابدا سياست های اصولی و کلی" را تعيين نمی کنند، گرچه تعبيرها، تاکتيک ها و سخنان آنان ممکن است متفاوت باشد.

به نوشته فايننشال تايمز، آقای خاتمی در اين مصاحبه گفت که هلوکاست يک واقعيت است و افزود که ايران خواستار "صلح پايدار" در خاورميانه برای يهوديان، مسلمانان و مسيحيان است.

اين روزنامه می نويسد که اقای خاتمی در طول هشت سال رياست جمهوری خود سرانجام نتوانست بر مخالفت تندروهای رژيم با سياست وی برای اصلاحات سياسی داخلی غلبه کند و می افزايد که در حال حاضر، در صحنه بين المللی ماموريت او تلاش برای جلوگيری از رويارويی نظامی با ايالات متحده است - که بسياری از ايرانيان نگران وقوع آن هستند - و علاوه بر آن، می کوشد نظريه گفتگو و آشتی بين اديان عمده جهان را به پيش ببرد.

فايننشال تايمز می افزايد که معلوم نيست که دولت جورج بوش چگونه با اين پيام برخورد می کند اما وزارت خارجه ايالات متحده اعتراض نو محافظه کاران و تندروهای طرفدار اسرائيل را ناديده گرفت و رواديد ورود به آمريکا را برای آقای خاتمی صادر کرد اما به مقامات دولت آمريکا دستور داده شده است که با وی ملاقات نکنند و کارمندان دولتی که در جلسه انجمن اسلامی شيکاگو حضور داشتند، قبل از آغاز سخنرانی محمد خاتمی، تالار را ترک کردند.

انتقاد از بوش و دعوت کارتر

اين روزنامه می نويسد که در همانحال، اقدام وزارت خارجه آمريکا برای حفاظت چشمگير از آقای خاتمی، هيات ايرانی را تحت تاثير قرار داد.

فايننشال تايمز می افزايد که آقای خاتمی اظهار داشته که "ديوار بی اعتمادی" بين ايالات متحده و ايران از زمان آغاز به کار دولت جورج بوش بلند تر شده و در مورد جنگ ديگری در خاورميانه هشدار داده است.


اشتباه محاسبه در مورد عراق مشکلاتی را برای آمريکا، ملت عراق و منطقه ايجاد کرده و اگر همين اشتباه محاسبه در مورد ايران هم تکرار شود، آسيبی که به همه می رسد قطعا بيشتر از عراق است


محمد خاتمی

به گفته آقای خاتمی "اشتباه محاسبه در مورد عراق مشکلاتی را برای آمريکا، ملت عراق و منطقه ايجاد کرده و اگر همين اشتباه محاسبه در مورد ايران هم تکرار شود، آسيبی که به همه می رسد قطعا بيشتر از عراق است."

فايننشال تايمز می نويسد که آقای خاتمی - که قرار است اين هفته در همايش ائتلاف تمدن ها در سازمان ملل هم سخنرانی کند - اظهارات جورج بوش در توصيف دشمن به عنوان فاشيست های اسلامی را تقبيح کرده و در مقابل، قدرت های غربی را متهم ساخته است که فاشيسم را در سطح ملی ريشه کن کرده اند اما آن را به صحنه بين المللی انتقال داده اند.

وی گفت "امروز در سطح بين المللی نوعی فاشيسم، آپارتيد، يک جانبه گرايی و نوعی خودکامگی را (از جانب غربی ها) مشاهده می کنيم که، ملت ها و علايق آنان بر اساس آن تقسيم و جنگ ايجاد می شود."

به نوشته اين روزنامه، در پاسخ به اين سئوال که آيا زمان آن فرا نرسيده است تا از ديپلمات های آمريکايی که بعد از انقلاب اسلامی به مدت 444 روز در ايران به گروگان گرفته شده بودند عذرخواهی شود، آقای خاتمی تکرار کرد که از اين حادثه "متاسف است."

فايننشال تايمز می نويسد که در مورد دعوت جيمی کارتر، رييس جمهوری پيشين آمريکا، برای ملاقات با خاتمی در شهر آنلانتا از وی سئوال شد و آقای خاتمی گفت که برنامه کاری او کاملا پر است اما افزود که اميدوار است "اگر زمينه لازم فراهم شود" با آقای کارتر درباره صلح و آشتی بين المللی کار کند."

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

پليس شهر بوستون اعلام کرده است که به درخواست وزارت خارجه آمريکا وظيفه حفاظت از محمد خاتمی رئيس جمهور سابق ايران را هنگام ديدار او از اين شهر بر عهده می گيرد.
بيانيه پليس شهر بوستون در واکنش به مخالفت ميت رامنی فرماندار ايالت ماساچوست صادر می شود که گفته بود اجازه نخواهد داد از منابع مالی اين ايالت برای حفاظت از جان رئيس جمهور سابق ايران استفاده شود.

ايلين دريسکول سخنگوی پليس شهر بوستون روز گذشته گفت که وزارت خارجه تقاضا کرده از ميهمان ايالات متحده محافظت شود و اداره پليس نيز در حال برنامه ريزی برای انجام اين وظيفه است.

شان مک کورمک سخنگوی وزارت خارجه آمريکا نيز در واکنش به اظهارات فرماندار ايالت ماساچوست گفت: محمد خاتمی از پوشش حمايتی سرويس امنيتی دولت فدرال آمريکا بهره مند است و نيازی به کمکهای اين ايالت نيست.

به گفته برخی کارشناسان ميت رامنی فرماندار ايالت ماساچوست که در صدد نامزدی برای انتخابات رياست جمهوری سال ۲۰۰۸ در آمريکاست، به دلايل سياسی از سفر محمد خاتمی به بوستون انتقاد کرده است.

آقای خاتمی قرار است روز يکشنبه برای سخنرانی در دانشگاه هاروارد عازم شهر بوستون شود.

وی در ادامه سفر دوازده روزه خود به آمريکا قرار است روز پنجشنبه در کليسای جامع شهر واشنگتن سخنرانی کند و پس از آن با مقامها و استادان دانشگاه های جورج تاون و ويرجينيا ملاقات می کند.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

با گذشت چند روز از آغاز سفر محمد خاتمی، رييس جمهور سابق ايران و رييس موسسه بين المللی گفتگوی فرهنگها و تمدنها به آمريکا، واکنش ها به اين سفر و موضع گيری ها عليه او ابعاد تازه ای به خود گرفته است.
پيش از اين سفر برخی جناح های محافظه کار در ايالات متحده آمريکا دولت اين کشور را به دليل صدور رواديد برای آقای خاتمی مورد انتقاد قرار داده بودند و در ديگر سو، محافظه کاران در ايران نيز بر او خرده گرفته بودند که با توجه به نحوه رفتار آمريکا با مقامات ايرانی و عدم صدور رواديد برای آنها، "اکنون وقت سفر نيست".

اينک اين مجادلات با مقاله يکی از هواداران سر سخت محمود احمدی نژاد، رييس جمهور ايران، بشدت بالا گرفته تا جايی که روزنامه کيهان، يکی از منتقدان سفر خاتمی را نيز به موضع گيری صريح واداشته است.

روز جمعه ۱۰ شهريور، فاطمه رجبی، همسر غلامحسين الهام، سخنگوی دولت، که پيش از اين در نشريات تندرويی چون صبح و يالثارات قلم می زد، مطلبی را با عنوان "ايران اسلامی و ميهمانی کاخ سفيد" در سايت اينترنتی نوسازی، از سايت های نزديک به اصول گرايان منتشر کرد.

هرچند خانم رجبی، نويسنده اين مطلب، شخصيت چندان شناخته شده ای نيست، اما نسبت فاميلی و مواضع تندی که مطرح کرده بود، نگاه های بسياری را متوجه خود کرد و واکنش های تندی را به دنبال آورد.

خلع لباس



بر حوزه های علميه ... است که پيشگام قشرهای ملت گرديده، تکليف اين دارنده لباس روحانی را در اين حرکت ضد ملی روشن کنند


فاطمه رجبی

در اين مطلب که با لحنی تند نگاشته شده از گروه های مختلف سياسی، دينی و اجتماعی خواسته شده تا نسبت به اقدام محمد خاتمی، برای سفر به آمريکا، واکنش نشان دهند.

خانم رجبی از حوزه های علميه خواسته تا "تکليف اين دارنده لباس روحانی" را روشن کنند، از حزب الله پرسيده چگونه می توانند "با آرامش و تحسين جولان خاتمی را در شهر های آمريکا نظاره کنند"، به دانشگاهيان می گويد "بايد نسبت به اين حرکت ضد ملی برخورد قهر آميز" داشته باشند و نهايتا هم از مجلس در اين مورد سلب اميد کرده و نوشته "از مجلس انتظاری نيست".

اين مقاله پيش از آنکه وارد مباحثات رسانه های رسمی ايران شود، توجه سايت ها و وبلاگ های ايرانی را به خود جلب کرد و به سرعت در اينترنت منتشر شد.

بسياری از رسانه های خارج از ايران که عموما از منتقدان جدی يا مخالفان جمهوری اسلامی ايران هستند اين مقاله را به عنوان نظر يکی از همفکران رئيس جمهوری ايران ارزيابی و آن را نشانه ای بر بروز اختلافات عميق داخلی تلقی کردند.

شايد همين موضوع هم مهمترين دليل برای باز کردن پای حسين شريعتمداری، مدير مسئول روزنامه کيهان به اين بحث بوده است.

"رانت سياسی"



ما هم در کيهان به آقای خاتمی انتقاداتی داشته ايم و به آن پرداخته ايم و به سفر اخير ايشان نيز، اما... حرمت ايشان را به نفع دشمنان اسلام و نظام نشکسته ايم


حسين شريعتمداری، مدير مسئول کيهان

حسين شريعتمداری در يادداشت روز سه شنبه، ۱۴ شهريور خود از در نصيحت وارد شده و خانم رجبی را از "راهی که برگزيده" بر حذر می دارد.

آقای شريعتمداری در مقدمه يادداشت خود با عنوان "ازکدام جايگاه؟" نوشته های فاطمه رجبی را "شعاری" و "اغراق آميز" معرفی می کند و معتقد است وی "تهمت های ناروايی به مسئولان بلندپايه سابق و لاحق نظام اسلامی روا داشته" است.

حسين شريعتمداری در ادامه اين مطلب با تاکيد بر اهميت رای مردم، خاتمی را جزو "حلقه های به هم پيوسته نظام" معرفی کرده و می پرسد: "ايشان با کدام منطق عقلی و شرعی رئيس جمهور منتخب مردم و مورد تاييد بالاترين مقام رسمی و دينی نظام را وابسته به آمريکا می دانند؟!"

مدير مسئول کيهان در مطلب خود همچنين به خانم رجبی يادآوری می کند که از "رانت سياسی" استفاده می کند.

"اظهارنظر شخصی"

روز دوشنبه نيز مقاله خانم رجبی، نشست هفتگی خبرنگاران با سخنگوی دولت را تحت تاثير خود قرار داده بود تا جايی که به گفته خبرگزاری دانشجويان ايران، موجب درگيری لفظی بين برخی از خبرنگاران شد.


روزنامه شرق تيتر اصلی شماره روز سه شنبه اش را به مقاله خانم رجبی اختصاص داد

در اين جلسه آقای الهام سخنان همسرش را "اظهارات شخصی" خواند و در مورد اينکه آيا نوشته همسرش "افترا" به خاتمی محسوب می شود يا نه، خبرنگاران را به "مقامات قضايی" ارجاع داد.

دامنه جنجال بر سر اين مقاله به روزنامه های ديگر نيز کشيده شده است.

روز سه شنبه ۱۴ شهريور، روزنامه شرق همه مطالب مهم صفحه اول خود را به اين موضوع اختصاص داده و از قول محمد علی ابطحی، مشاور و دوست نزديک رييس جمهور سابق نوشته که "خاتمی از اين اهانت ها آسيب نمی بيند".

روزنامه شرق در مقاله ای ديگر با معرفی فاطمه رجبی، به بررسی ديدگاه ها و نظرات او که در مقالات و کتاب هايش بازتاب يافته پرداخته و نتيجه گرفته که "جناحی در راه است که هم به حذف راست و هم به حذف چپ می انديشد، هم خاتمی و هم ناطق نوری و حتی احمد توکلی و علی لاريجانی را رد می کند".

فاطمه رجبی اخيرا با چاپ کتابی به نام "احمدی نژاد معجزه هزاره سوم" بر اين اعتقاد پای فشرده که ورود احمدی نژاد به کارزار انتخابات رياست جمهوری، "معجزه هزاره سوم بود، که هم جهانيان را متحير ساخت و هم اميد و نويد احيای گفتمان اسلام ناب محمدی را برای ملت ايران" در خود داشته است.

[Rasputin]

Governor's got it wrong on Khatami

Mohammad Khatami, is scheduled to deliver a lecture this weekend at Harvard University on the topic of ``ethics of tolerance in the age of violence," but Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has criticized Khatami as a ``terrorist" undeserving of the state's security protection during his brief visit.

Romney may have put himself in the national limelight by taking a stand against Khatami, but he is wrong on several accounts.

First, Khatami has been lavishly praised by various world leaders -- including the late Pope John Paul II, former president of Germany Johannes Rau, theologian Hans Kung, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan -- for his role in initiating the idea of ``dialogue among civilizations."

Calling for ``replacing hostility and confrontation with discourse and understanding," Khatami unveiled this idea in his address to the General Assembly in September 1998. Following his advice, the UN adopted the year 2001 as the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations and promoted activities aimed ``to strengthen solidarity, respect, and tolerance" in the world.

Far from a cliche or a bygone agenda, both the UN and UNESCO have continued with their efforts in promoting the idea of dialogue. In 2005, Annan appointed Khatami as a member of a high-calibered group of notables called ``Alliance of Civilizations."