Question:Mr. President, 20 million people cast a vote for a change of course of
direction in their revolution. You have spoken about civil liberties, civil rights and the
rule of law.
What specifically do you plan to do to meet those demands? Are you surprised by
the 20 million vote[s] and what they said?
And one last question. Do you think the atmosphere will exist for better relations
between Iran and the United States?
Khatami:Prior to being surprised from the number of the votes, I should say that
I am—it is a matter of honor to me. And of course, to the same extent, I do feel a
heavy-duty burden. And as I mentioned at the beginning, this vote has been [cast] as
a [vote of] confidence towards the system, the leadership and the revolution. And it
is an indication of the presence of our people with vigilance at the stage of determin-
ing their destiny and the future.
And they are all living within a system that has been quite—it is quite dear to
them and has been quite costly for them. And they would not easily get parted from
[it]. And of course, fortunately there is freedom and the right of choice in our system.
And also one of the reasons for having the exciting stages of the revolution has been
the right to compete.
That means the people interested in the system have been able to make a choice
within the framework of the system. And naturally what they have chosen would be a
matter of respect to everybody. While we do have due respect for the programs and the
ideas of the other competitors or the rivals, and also there shall be chances of having
debates and discussions between different points of view existing as well in [the] future.
It would be quite natural that I would be committed to the programs that I have
introduced and I do hope that I would be able to materialize them through the legal
channels in coordination with the other organizations. And what I could say in one
sentence was that all election was participation and the right of choice for the people
and no opposition to the system. And God willing, that the grounds of the partici-
pation and the power of the choice of the people shall remain in place and it would
be strengthened as well.
In regards to the relations with the United States... , I should say that the Amer-
ica is the source or the [spring] of this problem.
We are sorry to say that the U.S. policies [have] always been directed or [have]
been hostile toward our revolution, our system. The great outcome of our revolution
is independence and we are not willing to give up on this valuable outcome that we
have gained. The basis of our relation[s] with the other countries is reliance upon the
independence and the national interests of our country.
[As long as] the Americans are willing to bring any harm to this independence
and the national interests of our country, there would be no ground for any relations.
We cannot accept the domineering or [injunctive] policies in general.
Any change in the relation with the United States is dependent upon the changes
of the policies of... America towards the revolution and Iran. And unfortunately,
we do not see any sign of such change in the Americans’ policy....
SOURCE: “Khatami on his Election as President of Iran.” Historic Documents of 1997(Washington, D.C.: CQ
Press, 1998), 286-289. Editorial insertions and deletions by CQ Press, 2007.IRAN 399