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Middle East Analysis

Khomeini Kin Backs Reformer

By The Associated Press

posted on 03/17/08

She is a granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution, but Zahra Eshraghi has long been a leader of reformers seeking to liberalize Iran. She sees dark days for the country, at least in the short run, given the hard-liners’ lock on power. To break that hold, she says, former reformist President Mohammad Khatami must run against hard-line leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next year. …

Reformists are crippled because most of the 1,700 candidates disqualified by Iran’s clerical leadership were reformers. Khatami has said he has no desire to return to the presidency, which he held from 1997 to 2005. But he remains the most charismatic figure of the reform movement and is under pressure to run. In recent months, he has stumped for little-known reform candidates, giving speeches that have drawn crowds of thousands in a campaign that otherwise has been met with public apathy. …

Eshraghi, who didn’t seek to be a candidate in Friday’s election, argues that religious hard-liners have hijacked the revolution, which she says was meant to bring freedom to Iran. … Despite her gloom, Eshraghi predicts the hard-liners will fail in the long term. "In this era of communications and flow of information, the young generation won’t accept that few hard-liners decide their fate," she said. Access the full article>>