Rouhollah Shasavar was the head of Mousavi’s youth campaign in the north eastern province of Khorasan. Here he recounts a story of a meeting with ex-president Mohammad Khatami two months before the election, at a time when it was still expected that Khatami would run on the reformist ticket. ————————– [When Khatami announced that Mir Hossein would run instead] For an hour, we spent the longest time using the most foul language possible, trying to get Khatami angry so he might reconsider and run himself. But we would criticize him and he would continuously respond [without giving in]. On that historic day, Khatami said many things that I hope one day we will be able to write about. For now, much of what he said will remain a secret. But although many reformists were never persuaded, at the end of the session, Khatami said something that did convine a lot of us [although it didn't convince a majority and that is what forced Khatami to initially announce his nomination and then withdraw weeks later]. In response to some of the audience who called him a coward and a traitor, and who told him to be brave like Mossadeq or Amir Kabir and to be ready to sacrifice his life for the country like they did, Khatami said: “I would rather that I don’t become a historic figure, like Mossadeq or Amir Kabir, but that I be able to do something practical so people can be freed of tyranny and oppression. I’m certain that if they [Mossadeq or Amir Kabir] were alive today, they too would choose a different path. Wasn’t it the case that after both Mossadeq and Amir Kabir, our society came to be under even more pressure and hardships? I am ready to hear nothing but foulness towards me, if only I am able to do something so that our people will suffer a little less. I want us to gain something real after all these years of living in tyranny. I did not get into politics to become popular. Rather, I think we must see results. We must see our society change for the better.” Khatami then started to seriously talk about the inner dynamics of power hierarchies in our society, but those are things which I can not write about today, in the present conditions. He then said something about Mir Hossein Mousavi’s participation in this election, which we did not really understand until Saturday, June 13th, the day after the election. “In 1996, when they asked me to run for president, if I knew that I would win, I would have never agreed to run. Along with some friends, our only intent was to put forth certain ideas like civil society or political freedoms which had for some time been forgotten in our society. We thought we would do this to pave the way for others to run in subsequent elections. If friends knew that I might actually win, they might have never suggested the nomination to me. And I would have not accepted. But we now know that the people are on our side. The other camp knows this too. That is why if we win, they will start creating trouble for us, from the day of the election itself. And this time, much more cruelly and harshly than they did in 1997 [when Khatami first won].” “That’s why we need a nominee who is both stronger politically, and who has the ability to take stronger blows. I think Mir Hossein is the best candidate, given these conditions. I know I have enough votes to win. But the important thing is what comes after the election. [The best candidate] is someone who has the capacity to stand up for what people want, on the day after the election. I know myself as a cultural figure, and I don’t have the ability or the stomach for political fights. But I know that Mir Hossein is the man of Saturday [the day after the Friday election.] He will have the ability to stand up in the face of quandaries that will arise. Be sure of this.”