Mohammed Khatami’s new macaca moment

Back in 2007, I wrote a post noting a video of Mohammed Khatami shaking hands with female supporters that had gotten the former Iranian president in some hot water. The post was titled "Mohammed Khatami’s macaca moment," but Khatami’s latest viral video sensation is actually more like George Allen’s infamous racial slur.

In the video, which is making the round of the Iranian blogosphere, Khatami tells an insulting joke about Azeris. (I’m fairly sure it’s the video above but Farsi speakers should correct me if I’m wrong.) This had lead to public protests in several cities by Iran’s sizeable Azeri community. It’s quite possible that the video was leaked in order to discredit Khatami’s reformist ally Mir Hossein Musavi in the upcoming presidential election.

RFE/RL’s Iran Election Diary Blog provides a translation, though I think it probably loses something from the original:

“There was a preacher from Ardabil whose expertise was telling the story of how Fatemeh Zahra [the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad] got married," he says. "[The preacher] said that the night she became a bride, she was being taken to the house [of the groom] and the Prophet was walking in front of her, while Imam Hassan and Imam Hossein [both the sons of Fatemeh Zahra] were walking with her.”

This is way over my head but the implication, apparently, is that Azeris are slow. In any case, Iran’s reformists may want to keep cellphone cameras away from Khatami for the next three weeks.

The same blog also has a collection of (funnier) Iranian election jokes, such as the best reason to vote for Musavi over Ahmadinejad:

"He’s made anti-Israeli and anti- American comments at international venues but nobody walked out."

Update: Some further explanation from commenter Nemesida below.