Mohammad Khatami's Letter to the UN for 'Achieving Historical Reconciliation'

Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, in a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called for a clear call to intellectuals, politicians, governments, and civil institutions for urgent action aimed at 'achieving historical reconciliation.' In this letter, published on Thursday, January 17, on his website, Khatami considered 'historical reconciliation' as one of the important goals of dialogue between cultures and civilizations. He also referred to Iran's invitation to 'dialogue among civilizations' and 'coalition for peace' after the September 11 incident, adding: 'On the other hand, it was thought that with a coalition for war against terrorism... the roots of this evil phenomenon could be uprooted? But if this method was effective, why are we witnessing the spread of waves of terrorism across the world today?' Khatami emphasized in his letter that 'there are many lovers and defenders of freedom, justice, and human rights in the world, but their voices are not heard.' He added: 'We must actively think of solutions that allow these voices to be heard better.' Khatami introduced the idea of dialogue among civilizations in the early years of his presidency. The UN accepted his proposal and designated the year 2001 as the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations. The former Iranian president stressed at the beginning of his new letter that what has been done in recent years in the name of fighting terrorism has not been effective, but rather 'sometimes fuels the fire of this devastating scourge.' According to Khatami, terrorism and violence are not 'the war of religion and freedom, the conflict of East and West, and the confrontation between religions, ethnicities, and nations,' but rather a 'new and serious' danger with various roots. He added: 'Have we thought... about the role of poverty, deprivation, oppression, occupation, displacement, despotism, and worse, the humiliation of humanity imposed by corrupt governments and expansionist powers in the emergence of these ominous events?' Khatami had previously described terrorism on September 30 as 'the result of the greed and warmongering of powers' and stated that dialogue about peace should become the discourse of peace in the world. In the continuation of the letter, Khatami clarified: 'When millions of people whose land is occupied and the cries of the oppressed and displaced are drowned out in the frenzied cheers of the oppressive and murderous occupiers... deadly identities are constructed, and stateless terrorism even recruits from among Westerners.' He added: 'Terrorism, extremism, and marginalization have no good or bad types. We must not overlook the horrific discriminations resulting from the application of double standards.' Khatami condemned 'the terrorist crime in Paris and similar alarming events before and after it' at the beginning of his letter. In recent days, Iranian government officials condemned the attack on the office of the French weekly 'Charlie Hebdo' and the publication of a new caricature of the Prophet Muhammad in this publication. Meanwhile, the 'Yalasarat al-Hussein' publication, affiliated with the Ansar Hezbollah group, a hardline supporter of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, described the attack on the office of the satirical weekly 'Charlie Hebdo' in France as 'a blessed phenomenon in this incident' in its latest issue. At the same time, the 'Mardom Emruz' newspaper was seized for printing a large photo of George Clooney with the headline 'Clooney: I am Charlie too' on Saturday, January 17.