Ayatollah

Ayatollah

Ayatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...

 Ruhollah Khatami (1903 or 1904 - 29 October 1988) was a senior Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian cleric in the city of Yazd

Yazd

Yazd is the capital of Yazd Province in Iran, and a centre of Zoroastrian culture. The city is located some 175 miles southeast of Isfahan. At the 2006 census, the population was 423,006, in 114,716 families....

..

In July 1982, he was appointed as prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

 leader in the central Iranian city of Yazd by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He is the father of a number of notable Iranian politicians, including former president Mohammad Khatami

Mohammad Khatami

Sayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...

, Islamic Iran Participation Front

Islamic Iran Participation Front

The Islamic Iran Participation Front is a reformist political party in Iran...

 founder Mohammad Reza Khatami

Mohammad Reza Khatami

Seyyed Mohammad Reza Khatami is an Iranian politician and nephrologist.He was the first Secretary-General of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest Iranian reformist party. He is now a member of the central council of the party...

, former presidential chief of staff Ali Khatami

Ali Khatami

Ali Khatami is the younger brother of former Iranian president, Mohammed Khatami, and served as his chief of staff during his second term in office....

 and Fatemeh Khatami, who was elected to Ardakan

Ardakan

Ardakan is a city in and the capital of Ardakan County, Yazd Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 51,349, in 13,730 families.Ardakan is the second major city of Yazd Province. It was established in the 12th century in the Zardug region...

's city council in 1999.