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It was only in the late 1990s that the museum reclaimed its cultural significance during the reformist presidency of Mohammad Khatami.

Qalibaf then served as the head of the Guard’s air force, during which in 1999 he co-signed a letter to reformist President Mohammad Khatami amid student protests in Tehran over the government closing of a reformist newspaper and a subsequent security force crackdown.

The letter warned Khatami that the Guard would take action unilaterally unless he agreed to put down the demonstrations.

Also discussed as a possible aspirant is the former reformist, Khatami.

But it remains unlikely Iran’s Shiite theocracy will allow Ahmadinejad or Khatami them to run.