A jolly, bearded cleric, Abtahi enjoys munching on pistachios. Recently, he spoke about the upcoming Presidential election and the Khatami team's future plans with BusinessWeek London Bureau Chief Stanley Reed in the President's office, which is in a complex of palaces and gardens sealed off from bustling downtown Tehran. Iranian journalist Haleh Anvari translated. The first priority will be to prove to people that the President is the same Khatami as before. The greatest achievement of Mr. Khatami has been that he has not changed in any way.
Reform is a long-term path.
Mr. Khatami's most important goal is to make sure this path is not blocked. We have not gone through the same stages you have gone through. For example, the establishment of democracy is something you have gone through in the West. We are only just building ours. We had 2,500 years of royal rule.