TEHRAN, March 18 (UPI) -- An Iranian reformist party has called on former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to return to the presidential race.
The Combatant Clergy Association, a conservative clerical party that held the majority in Parliament in the wake of the Islamic Revolution, issued a statement on its Web site calling for Khatami's return to the presidential contest following his departure earlier this month, Press TV reports.
"The clear majority of (the Combatant Clergy Association) called for Khatami's return to the presidential race," a statement attributed to the party said.
Former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi pledged in February he would not run in the June presidential contest, paving the way for Khatami to seek the presidency.
Mousavi changed course last week, however, announcing his bid to challenge incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Khatami said he pulled out of the race in order to "prevent the division" of the votes, Press TV said.
Karim Sadjadpour with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told National Public Radio, however, that Iranian politics are often not that simple.
"It could well be that Khatami was forced to step down, intimidated," he said. "There have been, in the past, veiled threats even against his life."
