Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

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Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
4th President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
In office 3 August 1989 – 2 August 1997
Vice President	Hassan Habibi
Leader	Ali Khamenei
Preceded by	Ali Khamenei
Succeeded by	Mohammad Khatami
2nd Chairman of the Assembly of Experts
Incumbent
Assumed office  July 2007
Leader	Ali Khamenei
Preceded by	Ali Meshkini
Chairman of Majlis
In office 1980 – 1989
President	Abolhassan Banisadr Mohammad-Ali Rajai Ali Khamenei
Prime Minister	Mohammad-Ali Rajai Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani (acting) Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Leader	Ruhollah Khomeini Ali Khamenei
Preceded by	Vacant
Succeeded by	Mehdi Karroubi
Born	August 25, 1934 (1934-08-25) (age 74) Nough, Iran
Political party	Combatant Clergy Association
Spouse	Efat Marashi[1]
Religion	Usuli Twelver Shi'a Islam

Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Persian: علی اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی Ali Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, Hashemi Bahramani (هاشمی بهرمانی); born February 15, 1934) is an influential Iranian politician, writer and former president. Currently he holds the position of Chairman of the Assembly of Experts^[2] (a deliberative body of Mujtahids that is charged with electing, monitoring, and dismissing the Supreme Leader of Iran) and Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran (an unelected administrative assembly that resolves legislative conflicts between the Majlis and the Council of Guardians).

Rafsanjani served as President of Iran from 1989 to 1997. In 2005 he ran for a third term in office, winning the first round of elections but ultimately losing to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the run-off round of the 2005 election.

Rafsanjani is reportedly associated with the Iranian business class and Western energy sector and is hostile to Ahmadinejad and the more socialistic ideological tendency in the Islamic Republic. He has been described as a pragmatic and conservative, who supports a right-wing position domestically and a moderate position internationally, seeking to avoid conflict with the United States^[3].

Contents 1 Presidency 1.1 Domestic policy 1.2 Foreign policy 1.2.1 Currency crisis 2 After presidency 2.1 Political parties 3 The 2009 Iranian Election Crisis 4 Personal life 5 Books 6 Quotes 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Presidency

Rafsanjani has been described as less revolutionary and "isolationist" than his rivals and pursuing a more pragmatic `economy-first` policy.^[4] Another source describes his administration as "economically liberal, politically authoritarian, and philosophically traditional" which put him in confrontation with more radical deputies in the majority in the Majles of Iran. ^[5]

[edit] Domestic policy

Rafsanjani advocated a free market economy. With the state's coffers full, Rafsanjani pursued an economic liberalisation policy.^[6] Rafsanjani's support for a deal with the United States over Iran's nuclear programme and his free-market economic policies contrasted with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies, who advocate maintaining a hard line against Western intervention in the Middle East while pursuing a policy of economic redistribution to Iran's poor.^[7]

Rafsanjani urged universities to cooperate with industries. Turning to the quick pace of developments in today's world, he said that with "the world constantly changing, we should adjust ourselves to the conditions of our lifetime and make decisions according to present circumstances".^[8] Among the projects he initiated are Islamic Azad University.^[9][10]

[edit] Foreign policy

Following years of deterioration in foreign relations under Khomeini during the Iran-Iraq war, Rafsanjani sought to rebuild ties among Arab states,^[11] as well as with countries in Central Asia, including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.^[12] However, relations with European countries and the United States remained poor, even though Rafsanjani has a track record of handling difficult situations and defusing crises.^[13]

He condemned both the United States and Iraq during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. After the war he strove to renew close ties with the West, although he refused to lift Khomeini's fatwa against the British author Salman Rushdie.^[14]

Rafsanjani has said that Iran is ready to assist Iraq "expecting nothing in return". On the other hand, he has said that "peace and stability" is a function of the "evacuation of the occupiers."^[15]

Rafsanjani voiced support to Prince Abdullah's peace initiative and to "everything the Palestinians agree to". He was also clear that Iran's international interests must take precedence over those of Iranian allies in Syria and Lebanon.^[13]

Rafsanjani, who is sometimes described as a moderate on matters of foreign policy, is nonetheless a supporter of Iran's nuclear weapons program and has mused publicly about their possible strategic uses. In December, 2001, he noted that “the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything,” adding that a retaliatory strike “will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality.”^[16]

[edit] Currency crisis

During 1990-1995, Rafsanjani's administration faced the brunt of the second-generation US economic sanctions. He failed to stop the Iranian Rial from plunging 80% in value from 415 to 2,046 to the US Dollar, triggering the rise of the modern underground and barter economic networks.

[edit] After presidency

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 again became a Majlis representative, but resigned before being sworn in. He explained that he felt he was "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 Majlis and the Council of Guardians.

In December 2006, Rafsanjani was elected to the Assembly of Experts representing Tehran with more than 1.5 million votes, which was more than any other candidate. Ahmadinejad opponents won majority of local election seats. On September 4, 2007 he was elected Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body that selects Iran's supreme leader, in what was considered a blow to the supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was running against Ahmad Jannati. Rafsanjani was re-elected to the position on March 10, 2009, running against Mohammad Yazdi. He received 51 votes compared to Yazdi's 26.^[17][18]

[edit] Political parties

Although Rafsanjani has been a member of the pragmatic-conservative Combatant Clergy Association, he has a close bond to the reformist Kargozaran party. He has been seen as flip-flopping between conservative and reformist camps since the election of Mohammad Khatami, supporting reformers in that election, but going back to the conservative camp in the 2000 parliamentary elections as a result of the reformist party severely criticizing and refusing to accept him as their candidate. Reformists, including Akbar Ganji, accused him of involvement in murdering dissidents and writers during his presidency. In the end, the major differences between the Kargozaran and the reformists party weakened both and eventually resulted in their loss at the presidential elections in 2005. However, Rafsanjani has regained close ties with the reformers since he lost the 2005 presidential elections to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.^[6]

After his loss at the presidential elections in 2005, a growing tension between him and President Ahmadinejad arose. Rafsanjani has criticized Ahmadinejad's administration several times for conducting a purge of government officials ^[19], slow move towards privatization ^[20] and recently hostile foreign policy in particular the atomic energy policy ^[21][22]. In return Ahmadinejad has fought back that Rafsanjani failed to differentiate privatization with the corrupt takeover of government-owned companies and of foreign policies which led to sanctions against Iran in 1995 and 1996.^[23][24]. He also implicitly denounced Rafsanjani and his followers by calling those who criticize his nuclear program as "traitors" ^[25].

[edit] The 2009 Iranian Election Crisis

Wikinews has related news: Former president Rafsanjani to lead Friday Iran prayers

For the most part, Rafsanjani, an architect of the Islamic Republic, was silent about the June 12th election.^[26]

Rafsanjani's daughter was released on 2009-06-21 after her arrest while taking part in a protest against Iran's recent presidential elections. Rafsanjani's former rival and incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claimed a landslide victory over challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi, whose demands for a full recount were never met. Rafsanjani and his daughter are both outspoken supporters of Mousavi, while Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained staunch in his defense of Ahmadinejad.

Rafsanjani is chairman of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for appointing or removing the Supreme Leader, and as such, his role in Iran's future is likely pivotal. After the disputed results of the election were certified by the Supreme Leader, Rafsanjani was reported to have called a meeting of the Assembly of Experts, but it is unknown what the outcome or disposition of this meeting actually was. ^[27] During this time Rafsanjani relocated from Tehran to Qom, where the country's religious leaders sit.

[edit] Personal life

Rafsanjani was born in the village of Bahraman near the city of Rafsanjan in Kerman Province to a poor family of pistachio farmers.^[28] He has eight other siblings.^[29]. Rafsanjani has also been involved in the Iran-Contra affair and reportedly received gifts and weapons from the United States in exchange for favors from within the Iranian establishment.^[30][31][32] Rafsanjani has also been implicated in a number of international cases and there is an Interpol warrant issued for his arrest by Argentinian government.^[33] There are as well other reports connecting him with bombings and hostage taking.^[34]

From his marriage to Effat Mar'ashi 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 (woman).

Many believe Rafsanjani to be the richest man in Iran due to his deep involvement in various Iranian industries, including the oil industry, as well as his ownership of many properties throughout the country. There have also been allegations that some of his wealth has come from arms deals made after the Revolution.^[29] His wealth has earned him the nickname of Akbar Shah in Iran.^[35] The Rafsanjani family own vast financial empires in Iran, including foreign trade, vast landholdings and the largest network of private universities in Iran, known as the Islamic Azad University, which has 300 campuses spread all over the country. The Islamic Azad University campuses not only have large financial resources, but also a cadre of student activists numbering around 3 million.^[36]

The American business magazine Forbes has included Rafsanjani in their list of richest people in the world. In 2003 Forbes described Rafsanjani as the real power behind the Iranian government, and asserted that he "has more or less run the Islamic Republic for the past 24 years." ^[37] His son Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani is the head of the state-owned company Gaz Iran.

Rafsanjani has authored several books, including a book on Amir Kabir titled Amir Kabir; the Hero of Fighting against Imperialism. He is also gradually publishing his multi-volume memoir titled Towards Destiny. The seventh volume of his memoirs, in which he writes that Ayatollah Khomeini had approved the proposal to omit the rallying cry "Death to America," was banned and collected from bookstores a few days after its publication^[38].

[edit] Books

• Amir Kabir; the Hero of Fighting against Imperialism (in Persian)

[edit] Quotes

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• 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. Of course, you can see that the Americans have kept their eyes peeled and they are carefully looking for even the slightest hint that technological advances are being made by an independent Islamic country. If an independent Islamic country is thinking about acquiring other kinds of weaponry, then they will do their utmost to prevent it from acquiring them. Well, that is something that almost the entire world is discussing right now. (December 2001)^[39]
• If the Americans attack Iran, the world will change. …They will not dare to make such a mistake (2004)^[40]
• We are not bothering anyone, but we have acquired nuclear expertise and we want to benefit from it to improve our life.
• You need diplomacy and not slogans. This is the place for wisdom, the place for seeking windows that will take you to the objective. (2005)^[41]
• We want all the Palestinians back in their homeland, and then there can be a fair referendum for people to choose the form of state they want. Whoever gets the majority can rule. (2005)^[42]
• There is no doubt that America is a superpower of the world and we cannot ignore them. I think that Americans should gradually begin to adopt positive behavior rather than doing evil. They should not expect an immediate reaction in return for their positive measures. It will take time.^[43]
• I believe the main solution [referring to the nuclear issue] is to gain the trust of Europe and America and to remove their concerns over the peaceful nature of our nuclear industry and to assure them that there will never be a diversion to military use.^[44]
• Europe resolved a great problem – the problem of the Zionist danger. The Zionists, who constituted a strong political party in Europe, caused much disorder there. Since they had a lot of property and controlled an empire of propaganda, they made the European governments helpless. What Hitler and the German Nazis did to the Jews of Europe at that time was partly due to these circumstances with the Jews. They wanted to expel the Zionists from Europe because they always were a pain in the neck for the governments there. This is how this calamity fell upon the Muslims, especially the Palestinians, and you all know this history, more or less.[...]The first goal was to save Europe from the evil of Zionism, and in this, they have been relatively successful. ^[45]
• Look, as long as we can enrich uranium and master the fuel cycle, we don’t need anything else. Our neighbors will be able to draw the proper conclusions.^[46]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Abbas Vaez-Tabasi
• Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani
• Alireza Marandi
• Faezeh Hashemi

Religious titles
Preceded by Hashem Sabbaghian	Interior minister of Iran 1979-1980	Succeeded by Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani
Preceded by 1979–1980 empty	Speaker of Majles 1980–1989	Succeeded by Mehdi Karroubi
Preceded by Ali Khamenei	President of Iran 1989–1997	Succeeded by Mohammad Khatami
Preceded by Ali Khamenei	Chair of Expediency Council 1989–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Ali Meshkini	Chairman of Assembly of Experts 2007–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

[edit] External links

Wikinews has related news: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

• The Spy Story of Reagan's Dealings with Mullahs
• Arms for Hostage Deals
• The Story Behind The Scenes
• Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Official Website
• All News About Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
• Iranian Economy in Six Snapshots
• Rafsanjani's response to some allegations (ISNA, in Persian)
• ISNA interview with Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani about the Rafsanjani family (in Persian)
• Friday Sermon at Tehran University: We Will Soon Join The Nuclear Club — For Peaceful Purposes (video clip from 3 Dec. 2004)
• Video Archive of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

v • d • e Presidents of Iran Abolhassan Banisadr (1980–81) · Mohammad-Ali Rajai (1981) · Ali Khamenei (1981–89) · Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1989–97) · Mohammad Khatami (1997–2005) · Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (since 2005)

v • d • e Chairmen of the Majlis of Iran since 1980 Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1980–1989) · Mehdi Karroubi (1989-1992) · Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri (1992-2000) · Mehdi Karroubi (2000-2004) · Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel (2004-2008) · Ali Larijani (since 2008)