Seyed Mohammad Khātamī (Persian: سید محمد خاتمی, pronounced sejjed mohæmmæde xɒːtæmiː) (born October 14, 1943, in Ardakan, Yazd Province) is an Iranian scholar and 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.

Khatami attracted global attention during his first election to the presidency when, as "a little known cleric, he captured almost 70% of the vote." Khatami had run on a platform of liberalization and reform. During his two terms as president, Khatami advocated freedom of expression, tolerance and civil society, constructive diplomatic relations with other states including those in the Asia and European Union, and an economic policy that supported a free market and foreign investment. Khatami is known for his proposal of Dialogue Among Civilizations. The United Nations proclaimed the year 2001 as the United Nations' Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations, as per Khatami's suggestion. On February 8, 2009, Khatami announced that he would run in the 2009 presidential election. On March 16, he announced he was withdrawing from the race in favor of his long-time friend and adviser, former Prime Minister of Iran, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. On October 2009, Mohammad Khatami along with Dariush Shayegan was awarded 2009 Global Dialogue Prize, one of the world’s largest awards for research in the humanities. The award is given biannually "for excellence in research and research communication on the conditions and content of a global intercultural dialogue on values".