TEHRAN, Dec 27: Former president Mohammad Khatami, who embodied hopes for Iranian reform in the late 1990s, has launched a sudden comeback after retreating into the political wilderness in the last two years, analysts say.

Khatami, who had remained virtually silent over the performance of his conservative successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since leaving office in 2005, has now launched a series of bitter attacks on the president’s economic policies. He is underpinning a moderate coalition aiming to challenge conservative dominance of parliament in March 14 legislative elections, creating speculation he could be mulling another crack at the presidency in 2009.

Khatami, president from 1997-2005, in the last month gave speeches to mass rallies in the cities of Kerman, Mashhad, Tabriz and also addressed a packed hall of students at Tehran University.

“During these trips Mr Khatami is using his popularity and mobilising people in favour of his camp for the parliament elections,” said conservative analyst Amir Mohebian.

“At the same time he is testing the ground whether he can make a comeback in the future for presidency.” Reformist analyst Hamid Reza Jalaipour said Khatami had been compelled to take a more “active role” due to his concern about economic issues like Iran’s failure to hit growth targets, capital flight and the brain drain to the West.

Ahmadinejad’s confrontational foreign policy — refusing to give the slightest concession in the nuclear standoff and questioning the scale of the Holocaust — has also played a role, he said.

“People like Khatami and (ex-president Akbar) Hashemi Rafsanjani understand these things very well. Khatami feels that his policy of detente and confidence building has been aborted,” he said.—AFP