In 2014, Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei confirmed that Khatami had been placed under media restrictions. Six hundred university professors signed an open letter protesting the move, calling it a violation of constitutional and civil rights.
The tension reached emotional heights in March 2014 when his sister, Fatemeh Sadat Khatami, passed away. The silence from many senior regime figures was deafening. Only Hassan Rouhani and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani extended condolences publicly. While Ayatollah Khamenei reportedly sent a message to Khatami’s mother, it did not directly address Khatami—a subtle but telling gesture about the depth of estrangement between the two.
A Reformist’s Endurance
Despite political marginalization, Khatami continued to participate indirectly in electoral politics. In the 2017 elections, he again called upon the public to support Rouhani. Yet, by the time of the 2021 elections, the reformist movement had lost considerable momentum. Khatami issued a call for participation and indirectly supported Abdolnaser Hemmati, but the enthusiasm was notably lower. Hemmati came in a distant third, behind Ebrahim Raisi and even the tally of spoiled ballots.