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CAIR to Host Former Iran President in D.C.

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A former Iranian president is going on tour.

Next month, in a flurry of public appearances, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami will be the most senior Iranian official to visit Washington since 1979, when the United States severed relations with that country after the taking of hostages from the American embassy in Tehran.

On Friday, Sept. 8, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will host a dinner for Khatami at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, Va. The theme of his address at the CAIR dinner will be "The Dialogue of Civilizations: Five Years After 9/11.”

Khatami will already be in the nation’s capital to speak at the National Cathedral on the dialogue of civilizations - and the role Islam, Judaism and Christianity can play in the peace process.

The Sept. 7 speaking event at the National Cathedral is free and open to the public and will follow on the heels of Khatami’s attendance at a United Nations conference in New York City, which is part of the world body’s Alliance of Civilizations program led by the prime ministers of Spain and Turkey.

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When elected as president of Iran in 1997, Khatami sought increased freedom of the press, political reform and improved inter-cultural relations. He called for a dialogue of civilizations, a proposal taken up by the United Nations.

According to a Washington Post report, Khatami in 1997, as the newly elected head of state, oversaw a period of a more open press, the mulling of political reform, and cultural exchanges with the West.

In 1998, Khatami called for a dialogue of civilizations - a proposal embraced by the United Nations when it proclaimed 2001 the "Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations.”

The Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, dean of the National Cathedral, said, "It will be an honor for the cathedral to provide a platform for President Khatami. President Khatami’s commitment to a dialogue between civilizations and cultures is an important component in the peace process. This is much needed in the world today.”

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