Director of the Belfer Center is introducing the speech.

He just asked us to stand in a moment of silence to remember the 9/11 attacks.

He just said: "The pleasant ring of the word "Puritan" has always signified freedom and compassion." Uh huh... what?

Something about Plymouth Rock.

Asks Jill: where's he going with this.

Aha, now he's talking about the clash of civilizations and those who would like to instigate it (radical neo-cons and al Qaeda, I guess). He calls it "unethical and reprehensible" to instigate.

And those who engage in violence in the name of Islam, or any religion, are wrong.

And one cannot turn the world into a military camp in the name of human rights and democracy.

"We ought to use both eyes to condemn the malaise of the world..."

This sounds pretty, well, moderate to me.

Conversely, says Khatami, the East needs to overhaul it's social life and ...

Away from slogans and polemics.

It ought to choose democracy.

[He gets louder sometimes, to emphasize his point, but the effect is lost, because the translator is basically just reading. I wonder who he is.]

He's still talking about democracy. Apparently the Farsi word for democracy is "democracy." (No that's not a dig or a joke...just pointing it out.)

Democracy, in its various manifestations, still has an unchanging character...

The American nation has had a great role in establishing a particular form of democracy. Describes the importance of the American constitution. (Seems like These people have the right idea.)

Americans have suffered under colonialism and were the forerunners on the path to independence. (Seth: I wonder how people in the Arab and Muslim world see this fact.)

Can the American nation and in particular its well-meaning elites (he's more charitable than me!) change their view of international affairs ... and take a positive step towards persuading politicians and international organizations to inaugurate a new system in which democracy and human rights can prosper?

He speaks in English! "Here I want to end my talk in English."

This is the part that's going to be on the news...

He's talking about Sept. 11...

"These troubled times have seen their fair share of calamities."

(He's got a weird accent, a bit hard to understand...He's not western educated???)

Says Khatami: "I was one of the first (missed it) leaders to condemn these attacks." He's expressing his deepest sympathy with the families of the victims and all the great American people. Let us wish for .... (missed exactly what he said) peace.

"Thank you very much."

And the speech is over. Looks like people are rushing to some of the microphones, but others are completely empty. Huh? Jill, go to that microphone and ask a question! Jill: no!

"An example of this is that none of the UN resolutions against Israel have been implemented."

"Another example of this is the millions of refugees who live in camps" who do not have the right of return.

"This sort of violence leads to further violence."

(Apparently the word for "terrorism" is "terrorishme" in Farsi.)

Due to America's power and influence in the region, we hope that it will adopt a more thorough (that doesn't seem like the right word, but it's what the translator said) towards the region.

"So long as the forces in the region believe that America is biased towards one of the parties, America cannot act as an appropriate mediator for solving the problem."

Guy from the Belfer center follows up, mentions Ahmadenijad's "proposal to wipe Israel off the map."

"Specifically: do you agree with the proposition that the world would be better if Israel were wiped off the map."

(I disagree with the premise of this question... more on this later.)

Khatami's answer: "I have never wanted the elmination of any person or nation from the international sphere." "We cannot that for the past 50 years a nation by the name of Palestine has been eliminated from the map." Applause for that line. "So long as we are thinking of killing or eliminating we will not find a solution for our problems."

"We should not be thinking of how we can kill, we should be thinking of how we can live and co-exist together." More applause.

Guy from Boston: "On the eve of 9/11 ... do you personally hope that the U.S. and its allies capture Osama bin Laden?"

Khatami: "It is our hope that all terrorists, warmongers, and those who promote violence can longer conduct their activities."

"Osama bin Laden, I especially have my problems with him, the first is the crimes he conducts, the second is that he does these in the name of Islam, the religion that is supposed to be the harbinger of peace and justice."

"As you may know, my gov't was in opposition to the way in which Afghanistan and Iraq were dealt with, though it was in our interest to have our two enemies removed from these countries." (Right, as some blogger commented, just because the Iraq war was bad for the U.S. and bad for Saddam doesn't mean there weren't any winners...they just all happen to live in Tehran.)

"There are other ways we could have battled dictatorial regimes ... at far less cost, especially to the American people." (Well, I agree on Iraq...someone should follow-up and ask him what he thinks we should have done in Afghanistan.)

"The objective of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan were to destroy the terrorists, but today" bin Laden "is still around and" Iraq has turned into a "focal point" for terrorists. Unfortunately now, not only "the Iraqis but the American children" and people there for humanitarian purposes are losing their lives for this.

"In my speech I said" that practicing double standards will lead to a cycle of violence which will result in "murder for revenge and revenge for murder."

Alex (from the Dems) asks a question: What is your reaction to Ahmadenijad's statement that they would identify and remove secural (and liberal?) professors from universities and how does this accord with your definition of tolerance (ok, butchered that a bit...Alex, feel free to reply with corrections.)

Khatami just gave his full response without letting the translator translate. (Laughter.)

Khatami's response: "I do not agree with what has happened" and I believe Iran needs as many professors as we can get, and we should welcome professors from other countries, liberal, secular professors.

Jarret (another Dem...represent!) brings up Khatami's statement that Zionists are violent people and asks if he thinks Jarret is any more violent than the average audience member.

Khatami says: "Luckily here, I've already distanced myself from the Muslims who claim to be violent. I am against violence. It does not matter if the person is a Christian or a Muslim. As I have very good friends among the Jews and at my center ... in Geneva we have Muslims, Christians, and Jews working alongside each other. Let us all condemn violence and keep the pure religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity pure from violence." (he's not answering the question...) "We should all strive together to achieve a world in which we should all co-exist free from violence."

Danielle (from HSI) asks a question: as president you didn't recognize the sovereignity of the State of Israel ... are you going to employ a double-standard in not condemning Palestinian terrorists ...

"I would want people and nations to be able to co-exist peacefully."

"Live in peace and control their destinies."

"But as a Muslim man is not allowed to prevent the Jews from achieving their destiny, the Jews are not allowed to prevent the Muslims from achieving their destiny."

"Luckily, I made a point of condemning those who use Islam to promote violence ... it is this violence that I am against."

"A journalist asks me ... [about] suicide bombings and they asked me my opinion" My answer: "those who put others through hell will never go to heaven."

One of the Wexner Fellows (Israeli fellowship at KSG) asks about the whereabouts of an Israeli pilot who I guess is still missing... Wait, is he referring to the two soldiers captured by Hezbullah?

Khatami asks for clarification: "The name of the pilot was "Ron Arad"?" (Yes).

"As you said, regrettably, no one knows his whereabouts and I too do not know where he is." "You should be assured that if I did know where he was I would reunite him with his family." "

[Info about Ron Arad]

"I should also mention that for twenty years, four Iranian diplomats who were in Lebanon have disappeared ... and all our efforts to find information about them have been in vain. There is nothing worse than not know what has happened to your loved ones..."

"My desire is that" they all "soon be reunited with their families."

Jill clarifies that it's basically asking the President about the double-standard... since he condemns violence musn't he take responsibility for people who are tortured and killed on his watch. "In regards to this ... my role in the gov't as the head of the executive branch": we had an official position on the matter and we tried to find those responsible. You can find the official details in the media, it was reported widely. "The judiciary had its own conclusions, and while I must respect them, they were not in accord with our own (the executive branch?) views. I'm not as bold as you to identify the murderer and executioner. I still believe that this situation could have and should have been dealt with in a more pleasant matter."

"Had this not been made a political issue" it could have been resolved in a better way. Jill thinks he's blaming the family of the journalist.

"We are starting on the path to democracy" and I'm sure you can find many weak points in the affairs in Iran.

But you can also find flaws similar to these in other places in the world. What is important is that we should realize that democracy is a process. And we must have patience and pursue democracy gradually and if the pace is at times slow, we must make sure that we do not lose the correct path ... and now that I don't have any official responsiiblities I would be happy to listen in great detail to your concerns and let those in power know."

Questioner: Asks about how his speech is consistent with his country's support for Hezbullah and his statement "We love Hezbullah" (more here)

Khatami: "Are you really sure that I gave 100's of millions of dollars in aid to terrorist organizations. I assure you that this has not happened and will not happen."

"And even the UN has given a description that differentiates between those who are striving for the territorial integrity of their country as opposed to those groups whose only objective is to kill people."

Draws an analogy with the resistance of the French before the German attack. "It is not condemned but is highly praised." (Well, looks Cheney isn't the only one who makes questionable analogies to Nazis and WWII.)

"Iran withstood years of attack from" Saddam and no one considers that illegitimate resistance.

Now turning to Hezbullah...

OK, didn't catch that. Hezbullah hasn't claimed responsibility for something...

Sounds like he just said Hezbullah hasn't committed an terrorist acts in 10 years. (Really?)

"Hezbullah is a symbol of Lebanese resistance and an Arab group."

"And if we support Hezbullah it is only spiritual support and the claim that we give" any money whatsoever "is a baseless claim." [Murmur from the audience]

"As an example so you can better understand why Hezbullah is an Arabic resistance movement" it only has the right to be around when there is an occupation.

In the war when Hezbullah stated that if Israel bombs Beirut, Hezbullah bombs Tel Aviv. But at this point Israel was in the south of Lebanon... but they did not strike Tel Aviv. And they made a point of saying they meant where the Christians and Sunni Muslims were living.

Any group

"But we should be fair and not write off justified resistance as terrorism." (Someone in front of me whispers, "they started it." )

"We should also try that when we say things we should have proof and not just allegations."

On the topic of "they started it" I suggest this editorial from Ha'aretz, which is about Israel and Hamas, but certainly applies to Israel and Hezbullah.

Questioner (Amy from HSI): asks why IAEA isn't allowed into Iran.

Khatami answers: IAEA inspectors have conducted inspections and will be free to do so in the future.

Missed some of the details...something about snap inspections.

OK, sorry, I was looking up the Ha'aretz reference.

We're overtime and finishing in five minutes, which is good because my laptop says it has 9 minutes left.

Former President of Iran Lightning Question Round!

Questions #1 and #2 are of this form: "you gave a speech on the ethics of tolerance" and yet your country...

Question 1: ...held a contest soliciting Holocaust cartoons

Question 2: ...executes gays.

Question #3 is about a "grand bargain" in which the U.S. and Iran normalize relations.

Khatami is answering all three questions without pausing...I caught the word "Holocaust":

"When I was in Iran I heard Ahjmadenijad make a comment that said that if it came to pass then it was at the hands of the Europeans and this was in a way admitting that he does believe in the Holocaust."

"I believe that the Holocaust was a great human tragedy and I condemn all of Hitlers actions."

"I also condemn if the Holocaust will be used as a tool to persecute other peoples."

"If injustice has been done to a people is by trying to relieve that injustice not by doing injustice to other people."

"In regards to the exhibition I am not aware to what extent the exhibition was received in Iran."

"When I was president there was a lot of protests against me."

"Freedom of expression exists in this way in Iran"

"You can take this exhibition as official policy of the Islamic republic of Iran's government as a whole."

"My opinion on the holocaust is that if a single person is killed it's like entire humanity is killed. I strongly condemn the holocaust as many many Jewish and non-Jewish people were killed during the Holocaust as it was a racist act."