Mohammad-Reza Khatami (, born 1958) is an Iranian reformist

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and nephrologist.

Early life and education

Khatami was born in 1958 in Ardakan,

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 ...

. He is the youngest brother of former president

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 ...

. Khatami is educated in medicine and before entering politics, he was a practicing nephrologist (

kidney In humans, the kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped blood-filtering organ (anatomy), organs that are a multilobar, multipapillary form of mammalian kidneys, usually without signs of external lobulation. They are located on the left and rig ...

specialist) for a number of years. He is a faculty member of Tehran University of Medical sciences.

Career

Khatami was the first Secretary-General of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest Iranian reformist party. He is now a member of the central council of the party. He is also the former deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament. He entered politics in 1997 after his brother's victory and was appointed deputy minister of health. He was elected in March 2000 for the sixth term of the

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

's parliament's election as the first representative of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

with 1,794,365 votes from the people of Tehran. He has also acted as the ''manager in charge'' of the now-banned reformist daily '' Mosharekat''. Sometimes described as "ultraliberal" in his views, he was "disqualified from running for any office by the Guardian Council."

Personal life

In 1983, at the young age of 25, Khatami married Zahra Eshraghi, a granddaughter of

Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...

(founder of the

Islamic republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

) and an activist in

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

. They have two children — a daughter, Fatemeh, who at the moment studying at a university in London, and a son, Ali. On 28 March 2020, Khatami announced he tests positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

with publishing a video showing he is at a hospital.Former Iran deputy speaker infected with coronavirus
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References

1958 births Living people Iranian reformists First deputies of Islamic Consultative Assembly Second deputies of Islamic Consultative Assembly Iranian urologists Iranian nephrologists People from Ardakan Islamic Iran Participation Front politicians Members of the 6th Islamic Consultative Assembly Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line Secretaries-general of political parties in Iran Islamic Association of University Instructors politicians Mohammad Khatami Political prisoners in Iran {{Iran-MP-stub