Iran's reformist coalition is to meet former president Mohammad Khatami to discuss the strategy for next March's parliamentary elections, the Fars news agency reported Saturday, according to dpa. Coalition spokeswoman Shahrbanu Amani told Fars that a special council has already consulted ex-president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani and would also talk with Khatami and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi to coordinate a strategy for the 14 March 2008 elections. The Iranian parliament is currently dominated by the Abadgaran (Reconstruction) Party which is close to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. After defeats in parliamentary (2004) and presidential (2005) elections, the reformist and moderate factions formed a coalition against the Abadgaran party and hope to regain power in 2008 and eventually also prepare the ground for replacing Ahmadinejad in 2009. The new coalition is led by Khatami and Rafsanjani and gained an initial victory in last December's Experts Assembly, imposing on Ahmadinejad a first setback since his presidency began. -- SPA
