State of Reform

Whe

n Iranian President Mohammed Khatami addressed parliament yesterday, he may well have started a new tradition for Iranian leaders: the state of the nation speech. Coming so late in his term, just three months before the presidential election, no one knew quite what to expect. "I came, did little, endured much," was the sarcastic summary of one Tehran analyst. But in his two-hour address Khatami defended his presidency and attempted to woo back disenchanted voters, though he stopped short of announcing his declaration to run again.

The Iranian people elected Khatami by a landslide four years ago, showered him with affection, and finally withdrew from him as he silently bore a hardline backlash against his attempted reforms. Khatami was clearly trying to re-establish the lost intimacy with the Iranian electorate. And with his honest, forthright tone, he may well have succeeded. "I admit that I have not revealed all my worries to society," he said apologetically. "But I have always been close to the problems and suffering of the Iranian nation, and I too have suffered with them."

Without directly saying so, Khatami signaled a clear intention to run for office again: "No pressure will turn me away from my beliefs, and until the day that I feel a step forward can be taken, I am at the people's service. When I feel that is no longer possible, then I prefer to serve them, and the revolution, elsewhere." In response to critics who question his accomplishments, he pointedly redirected their accusations, saying "What we should be asking is, what have all of us done [to further reform]?"

The speech also touched on the President's usual themes. He made a plea for moderation, indirectly equating extremist clerics with secularists as twin dangers to the Islamic system, and he warned against overly high expectations that "clear the way for extremism." He also defended freedom of speech within the context of the law: "Just as a supporter cannot say or do whatever he wants, nor should the mouth of any opponent be shut."

For a moment, he seemed to be lending impassioned support to press freedom. "I do not accept the closing of any newspaper," he began to the speech's single burst of applause, "or any publication for insulting the President." The reference was to a conservative weekly banned recently on charges of defaming the President. The example was well chosen — by using himself as the target, Khatami was able to criticize the judiciary more harshly than if he had been defending a reformist publication, most of which have been shut down by his hardline opponents. "I know of no law that calls for this, but I have no intention or right of interference, [which would be] both illegal and inappropriate, in the affairs of another institution."

Khatami listed his accomplishments with relish: on his commitment to the rule of law, "Today no one dares call the law a decoration"; on foreign policy, "We are now a model in the Islamic world"; and most importantly on the new Iranian citizen, "Who is today knowledgeable, inquisitive, curious, values his vote, and participates."

Ultimately, the oblique message to his opponents was: You need me. The reform movement, he said, expressed the people's demands. "If we ignore such a need for change we will steer society toward a path that has a sorrowful and regrettable end." If Iran needs reformers, and the movement has no alternative candidate, then Iran needs Khatami.

It was a successful speech. It was not full of new ideas, but it rekindled his supporters' sympathies for the old ones. Most importantly, it allowed for some intimacy — listeners glimpsed the President's mood, sensed his priorities, and felt, for perhaps the first time, they were getting the explanation they deserved. But state television, controlled by his hardline opponents, declined to broadcast the speech live. The evening news allotted 15 minutes to coverage of the address, only 30 seconds or so of which featured the President's own words.

Pro-reform MPs were encouraged. "My interpretation is that he'll definitely run again," said MP Majid Ansari. The largest reform bloc in parliament has already nominated Khatami as its candidate, and was looking for validation of its choice. "We saw signs today that made us happy," said Mohammed Reza Khatami, the bloc's head and the President's younger brother. Not all signs were positive, though. The same night that Khatami gave his speech police raided a meeting attended by members of a religious-nationalist group that opposes the regime, arresting over 20 dissidents.