Khatami was given permission last week by the US State Department to enter the United States, and he spoke Saturday at a mosque outside Chicago. His private visit is also scheduled to including appearances in coming days in Washington and New York.
'There is a great opportunity of dialogue and cooperation by peoples of faith,' he said through a translator Saturday, the Chicago Tribune newspaper reported on its website.
He called Saturday for a 'dialogue of civilizations,' in front of an audience of invited guests at Bait ul Ilm Islamic Centre, a mosque in Streamwood, Illinois, outside Chicago.
A reformist cleric who served two terms as president from 1997- 2005, Khatami was often thwarted by hardliners who control many of the levers of power in Iran.
The US State Department has security agents accompanying Khatami, and members of the US Secret Service, the federal agency that protects the US president and other top officials, were among a strong police contingent Saturday outside the mosque, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The newspaper said there were no demonstrators.
Khatami was to speak later Saturday in nearby Rosemont, Illinois, at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America.
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