Alumni
Khatami's Quest
The former Iranian president’s controversial visit to promote peace in the United States includes a visit to Lake Forest College at the invitation of one of his harshest critics — Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Ahmad Sadri.
By Lindsay Beller | Photos by Chip Williams
On Tuesday, August 29, former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami received a visa to enter the United States for a multi-city speaking tour. The purpose of his two-week visit was to promote the idea of cross-cultural understanding between nations at several universities, religious institutions, and conferences, including the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the United Nations.
Although his eight-year presidency had ended in 2005, Khatami reportedly classified as the highest-ranking Iranian political figure to visit this country since the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. When news broke of his trip, political tensions were already high between the United States and Iran as a United Nations deadline approached for Iran to cease its nuclear enrichment program (Iran would miss the deadline during Khatami’s visit). Various Jewish and human rights groups expressed outrage that he received a visa, citing his anti-Israel and pro-Hezbollah views, and reports of human rights violations and the suppression of the news media during his presidency.
Considered the first reform president since the Iranian Revolution, Khatami also faced a barrage of criticism from intellectuals who deemed his presidency as a failure for the political reform movement. Counted among them was Lake Forest College Professor of Anthropology and Sociology Ahmad Sadri, an Iranian-born scholar who denounced Khatami in various English and Persian media outlets for not standing up to the right wing religious leaders as they quashed press freedoms and students’ rights. Sadri was even identified as one of Khatami’s “harshest critics” in a book by Jamsheed Amoozgar.
Despite this, College officials learned on Friday, September 1, that Khatami accepted an invitation by Sadri to visit campus and speak with a small number of students and faculty. Two days later amid heavy security provided by the U.S. State Department, Khatami’s caravan pulled up to the College where he was greeted by Sadri, President Stephen D. Schutt, and other school officials.
The Visit
With only two days notice before Khatami’s visit, the College sprang into action with Sadri leading the way. He escorted U.S. State Department officials as they searched the property to identify security issues and asked faculty to contact students with an interest or major in international relations and politics to attend a question-and-answer session with Khatami. He also made arrangements for the former president, who headed the National Library of Iran from 1992 to 1997, to tour the Donnelley and Lee Library. Finally, with the security list complete, the plants ordered, the Iranian and United States flags in place, and the hands-free microphone system tested, the College awaited his arrival.
On the afternoon of Sunday, September 3, Khatami arrived with six SUVs and three police cars in tow. He emerged wearing traditional clothing of a cleric, a black turban and a black cape over his white frock, and entered the library underneath the watchful eyes and weapons of security detail positioned on the roof and ground. About two dozen individuals traveled in his entourage, including former Iranian cabinet members and ambassadors, their families, and local Iranians. They trailed behind Khatami as he roamed in between the stacks, viewed the College archives, and stopped to speak with students. True to his reputation as having a charming and friendly demeanor, he smiled, asked questions, and showed much interest throughout the tour.
Finally they entered Meyer Auditorium in Hotchkiss Hall, where about 75 faculty and students waited. No press, except for the student newspaper, was present. President Schutt gave a short introduction and announced that the College was in the process of developing a new Islamic World Studies Program. Khatami began his opening remarks in Farsi, pausing frequently to let Sadri translate, before taking questions from the audience.
Sadri’s Criticisms
Their paths crossed for the first time at a United Nations conference in 1997 when Khatami told Sadri that he was familiar with his work. Sadri, who had written articles on Middle East politics and a book on civilizational analysis, was on sabbatical in Jordan that same year when he was shocked to learn that Khatami had won the Iranian presidency by a landslide.
As a follower of Ayatollah Khomeini, Khatami held several government positions but fell out of favor when he earned a following among artists and students after championing their rights. Many were surprised that his candidacy was approved by the Council of Guardians, the group of Islamic clerics who vet all political candidates. The Council is appointed by Iran’s Supreme Leader, who, as head of state and the highest religious authority, has more power than anyone in the Iranian government.
Still the election coincided with increasing discontent among Iranians nearly two decades after the Iranian Revolution and a decade after the Iran-Iraq War devastated the economy and led to an estimated one million deaths. Reformers hoped that Khatami could lead Iran toward democracy and away from theocracy, create an environment of tolerance, and bring the country back into the international community, Sadri said.
Although Khatami had little power to make major changes, his biggest failure as president was that he didn’t try to challenge the right wing leadership, according to Sadri. “He was successful in so far as practical issues — economy, education, scientific development,” Sadri said. “But in Iran, he was not only president but a symbol of reform. As a symbol of reform, he didn’t perform his task. He basically treated this as a run of the mill presidency.
“He didn’t play hardball when the right wing came down on press freedoms in Iran,” Sadri continued. “No one expected him to stage a coup d’etat but people expected him to symbolically side with the reformers and come out and support the students and press and keep them from being squashed by the right wing. People grew disenchanted and judged him to be a failure.” Sadri published these views in English and Persian media, including Iranian.com and The Daily Star of Lebanon.
After Khatami’s second term ended (term limits prevented him from running again), he continued to promote a concept he had introduced early in his presidency called the “Dialogue among Civilizations” which, according to the United Nations, “aims to increase mutual understanding between cultures through an active exchange of ideas, aspirations, and visions for the future.” The United Nations declared the year 2001 as the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations and started an intergovernmental group called the Alliance of Civilizations to promote world peace. The alliance held a meeting at the UN in New York, which prompted Khatami’s recent visit to the United States.
Although Khatami has no political power in Iran, he is still popular in the country, Sadri said. “People still say they trust him because he’s a decent man, although he is a terrible politician. What other proof of his decency than I? As one of his vocal critics, he doesn’t bear any grudge against me.”
Indeed, Khatami asked to meet with Sadri when he arrived in the United States in early September. After speaking to two Islamic groups on Saturday, he wanted Sadri’s help in planning his free Sunday afternoon in Chicago.
Visit Criticized, Commended
With little notice and no press coverage aside from the Stentor, Khatami’s visit came and went without a hitch. No protesters waved signs as they did during some of his other speeches, and Sadri received mostly positive feedback. “People who thought he came here to open up the relations between us and Iran, they were disappointed, but it’s not like it was useless either,” he said. “It did have some effect. It did sensitize some Americans to the Iranian position and to the politics of reform.”
In the following weeks, some students wrote columns and letters to the editor in the school newspaper to share reactions to his visit. Matt Fernholz ’07 wrote a September 21 column that criticized President Schutt for allowing Khatami to visit campus. “What he (President Stephen Schutt) should have done is followed the lead of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney who refused to provide security to Khatami….President Schutt should be ashamed for bringing a president of a terrorist state to campus…”
In response, President Schutt wrote, “I personally disagree with numerous positions taken by the former Iranian president…But it is not my job to prevent campus appearances by speakers with whom I disagree. On the contrary, in the words of the College’s speaker policy, it is my responsibility to ‘ensure that invited guests of the College…will be treated with courtesy and respect and accorded the dignity due to them as human beings, no matter how strongly persons in their audiences might disagree with their ideas.’”
For others like Ed Vrtis ’07, Khatami’s visit prompted him to write a column about human rights issues in Iran. He wrote in the September 14 issue: “While I don’t think Iran should ever nor could it ever fully adopt ‘western’ culture, and we can all be thankful that their culture will be preserved, there have to be certain policies that this country will not tolerate…I think we have reached another great moment in history where our generation will need to stand up for freedom against terrorism and tyranny or risk being subjected to the same injustices now perpetrated against innocents around the globe.”
Such discourse fit with Sadri’s ultimate reason for inviting Khatami to the College. “In coming to Lake Forest I aimed to present to him the operations and environment of an American liberal arts college and a library,” he said. “The free and frank exchange of ideas with an American audience was a rare and welcome opportunity for him.”
Lindsay Beller is the editor of Spectrum.