Ali Khatami is the younger brother of former

Iranian president The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran () is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the second highest-ranking official, after the supreme leader. The first election was held in 1980 and was won by Abulhassan Banisa ...

Mohammad Khatami Mohammad Khatami (born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician and Shia cleric who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to 1992. Later, he was critic ...

, and served as his chief of staff during his second term in office. Khatami was born to Ruhollah Khatami, alongside older siblings Fatemeh Khatami and Mohammed Khatami and younger brother,

Mohammad-Reza Khatami Mohammad-Reza Khatami (, born 1958) is an Iranian reformist politician and nephrologist. Early life and education Khatami was born in 1958 in Ardakan, Iran. He is the youngest brother of former president Mohammad Khatami. Khatami is educated ...

. He lived in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

while pursuing a master's degree in

Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. In 2000, during his brother's first term as President of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, rumors circulated in the Iranian press that Ali Khatami was involved in the distribution of "videotapes in which the officials of the system were insulted". These rumors were denied by the President's office, and described as an effort to exert pressure on the President by showing his family in a damaging light. In 2001, Mohammed Khatami named Ali as his chief of staff, after being elected to a second term as President.

References

"The Iranian Nuclear Issue and Informal Networks", Naval War College Review

Notes

Iranian engineers 1953 births Living people Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Islamic Iran Participation Front politicians {{iran-politician-stub