Tehran’s interim Friday prayers leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami, has denied his nomination for the upcoming presidential election in Iran. Several reports suggest that he is going to announce his nomination for the top post of the country but he has defined himself as a “cultural face”.
“I know myself as a cultural face in the country and like the last four rounds, I won’t attend the race of presidential election. During a meeting with religious leaders of Kerman, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi has announced his support for me if I apply for the post. I appreciate his job but definitely I won’t take part in this election.” said Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami, the brother of Mohammad Khatami.
“I have been offered with many opportunities since the victory of Islamic Revolution. But expanding the customs of Islam and teaching in seminaries are my main duties. So clearly I won’t be a candidate for presidential election.” Seyyed Ahmad Khatami added.
In regard to the 2009 Iranian election protests, Khatami denounced demonstrators as rioters who wage war against God (“mohareb”), (a capital crime in Islamic law), and more recently accused reformist presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi of Mohareb as “leaders of sedition.”