Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
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Alī Akbar Hāschemī Rafsanjānī (Persian: اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی), born as Hashemi Bahramani (هاشمی بهرمانی) , born August 25, 1934, is one of the most influential Iranian politicians, and is currently serving as the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran.
He served as President of Iran from 1989 to 1997. In 2005 he tried to win a third term in office, but lost on the second ballot to Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 Iranian presidential election.
Political life
Before the revolution Rafsanjani was an activist against the Shah's regime, and had been jailed during that period.Rafsanjani was a key member of Iran's Revolutionary Council at the beginning of the new Islamic Republic, together with Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Mohammad Beheshti, Morteza Motahhari, and Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili.
A cleric by profession, Rafsanjani became the first head of the new Iranian parliament after the founding of the Islamic Republic and served until 1989.
Rafsanjani served as President of Iran from August 17, 1989 to 1997, and was the first president of Iran to step down officially after finishing his period: of his predecessors, Abolhassan Banisadr was successfully impeached, Mohammad Ali Rajai was assassinated, and Ali Khamenei was promoted to Supreme Leader.
In 2000, in the first election after the end of his presidency, Rafsanjani ran again for Parliament but was not among the 30 representatives of Tehran elected, as announced by the Iranian Ministry of the Interior. The Council of Guardians then ruled numerous ballots "void" and were able to get him "elected" as the 30th representative. Rafsanjani thus became a member of Parliament once more, but resigned before being sworn in as an MP. He explained his reason as "being able to serve the people better in other posts".
Rafsanjani is currently the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council that resolves legislative issues between the Parliament and the Council of Guardians; in addition, he advises the supreme leader on matters of national policy.
Personal life
Rafsanjani was born in the city of Rafsanjan, located in central Iran. From a marriage in 1958, Rafsanjani has three sons: Mohsen, Mehdi, and Yasser, as well as two daughters, Fatemeh and Faezeh. Only Faezeh Hashemi chose a political life, which led to her becoming a Majlis representative and then the publisher of the newspaper Zan.In recent years, the mudslingers accused him of possessing many properties and riches.Finally, in his presidential campaign of 2005, he denied the rumors. He was rpeatedly accused by his critics of possessing concealed properties but he rejected all accusations and asked for proofs.Rafsanjani has authored a few books, most importantly including a book on Amir Kabir titled Amir Kabir, the Hero of Fighting against Imperialism.
Quotes
During his Qods Day speech on 14 December 2001, Rafsanjani alluded to Iran's position toward Israel and the Western world. He said (according to a translation by the BBC):
If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything. However, it will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality.
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References
- ["Rafsanjani's Qods Day speech (Jerusalem Day)"], Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, in Persian, translated by BBC Worldwide Monitoring, original broadcast December 14 2001
- [Excerpts from Rafsanjani's Qods Day speech], The Middle East Media Research Institute, January 2 2002
External links
- [Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Official Website]
- [ISNA interview with Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani about the Rafsanjani family] (in Persian)
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