Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
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| Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی | |
| Image:Rafsanjani.jpg <small/> | |
| 4th President of Iran
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| In office August 3, 1989 – August 2, 1997 | |
| Vice President(s) | Hassan Habibi |
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| Preceded by | Ali Khamenei |
| Succeeded by | Mohammad Khatami |
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| Born | 1934 Nough, Iran |
| Political party | Militant Clergy Association |
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Persian: اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی), born Hashemi Bahramani (هاشمی بهرمانی) on August 25, 1934, is an influential Iranian politician, and is currently serving as the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran.
He served as President of Iran from 1989 to 1997, losing on the second ballot to Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 Iranian presidential election in his attempt at a third term in office.
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[edit] Political life
Rafsanjani's role in politics began by his relations with Sayyid Zia Od-Din Tabataba'i. During his religious education in Quom he made a lot of efforts to establish friendship with major clerics of that time. Even during his short prison times he was sent to different prisons and made contacts with different people in order to be known as a major political dissident.
Before the Revolution, Rafsanjani was an activist against the Shah's regime, and was jailed during that period[citation needed].
Together with Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Mohammad Beheshti, Morteza Motahhari, and Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili, he became a key member of Iran's Revolutionary Council at the beginning of the new Islamic Republic, and became the first head of the new Iranian Parliament, serving until 1989.
He was one of the main figures in Iran contra scandal but Khomeini issued a command banning any investigation about him.
Rafsanjani served as President of Iran from August 17, 1989 to 1997, and was the second President of Iran to step down officially, having completed his term in office. Of his predecessors, Abolhassan Banisadr was successfully impeached, Mohammad Ali Rajai was assassinated. Until the election of Rafsanjani, Ali Khamenei was both the President and Supreme Leader, and hence was the first President of Iran to step down officially.
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 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 Parliament and the Council of Guardians. In addition, he advises the Supreme Leader on matters of national policy.
[edit] Political Party
Although he has been a member of the pragmatic-conservative Militant 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 major reformist parties refusing to accept him as their candidate. He has had close ties with the reformers since he lost the 2005 presidential elections to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.<ref name="r">Rafsanjani's political life reviewed- in Persian</ref>
[edit] Presidency
[edit] Domestic policy
Rafsanjani advocated a free market economy. With the state's coffers full, Rafsanjani pursued an economic liberalisation policy. <ref name="r" />
[edit] Foreign policy
He attempted to forge good relations with Arab countries and countries in Central Asia including Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. However relations with European countries and the US remained poor.
[edit] Accusations of involvement in assassinations and bombings
In 1997, a German court convicted 2 men of murder in the 1992 assassination of Sadiq Sarafkindi, an Iranian-Kurdish leader, as well as 3 of his associates, and convicted 2 others of being accessories to the crimes. Presiding Judge Frithjof Kubsch said the men had no personal motive but were following orders. Without naming names, Kubsch said the gangland-style murders had been ordered by Iran's Committee for Special Operations, to which Iran's President and spiritual leader belonged. Prosecutors had contended that Iran's powerful spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani had personally ordered the killings. [1]
On 25 October 2006, a team of Argentine prosecutors formally charged Iran and Shi'a militia Hezbollah with the 1994 AMIA Bombing in Buenos Aires, accusing the Iranian authorities of directing Hezbollah to carry out that attack and calling for the arrest of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and seven others.<ref>"Iran, Hezbollah charged in 1994 Argentine bombing", Daily Jang, 2006-10-25. Retrieved on 2006-10-25. (in English)</ref><ref>"Iran charged over Argentina bomb", BBC news, Wednesday, 25 October 2006, 22:47 GMT 23:47 UK. Retrieved on 2006-10-25. (in English)</ref> This incident has put Ahmadinejad's government in the awkward position of defending Rafsanjani, whom they oppose for corruption and being pro-Western.<ref name="ra">http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2006/11/061110_a_az_hashemi_arge.shtml</ref> Therefore, this event is seen as a positive development for Rafsanjani who is trying to get elected to Assembly of Experts in December 2006.<ref name="ra" />
[edit] Personal life
Rafsanjani was born in the city of Rafsanjan, 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, he has been repeatedly accused by his detractors of possessing concealed wealth but he has rejected all accusations and asked for proof. Rafsanjani has authored a few books, one of the most important being a book on Amir Kabir titled Amir Kabir; the Hero of Fighting against Imperialism.
[edit] Quotes
- We have no problems with Jews and highly respect Judaism as a holy religion. (October, 2005) <ref>Rafsanjani says Iran respects Jews and Judaism</ref>
- 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.(December 2001)<ref>"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]
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- 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)<ref>Iran Moves to Curb Hard-Liners: Power Given to Relatively Moderate Body Led by Rafsanjani</ref>
- 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) <ref>Iran's Leader Joins Large Anti-Israel March</ref>
- 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.<ref>New York Times</ref>
- 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.<ref>Rafsanjani urges U.S. to begin thaw in ties</ref>
- It is the obligation of the female to cover her head because women's hair exudes vibrations that arouse, mislead, and corrupt men."<ref>Price of Honor by Jan Goodwin pg. 103</ref>
| Preceded by: ? | deputy chair of Assembly of Experts 1997?-present | Succeeded by: Incumbent |
| 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 |
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] External links
- Rafsanjani's responce to some allegations (ISNA, in Persian)
- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Official Website
- ISNA interview with Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani about the Rafsanjani family (in Persian)
- Iran Media Resources
| Presidents of Iran
<td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Flag of Iran.svg </td> |
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| Banisadr | Rajai | Khamenei | Rasfanjani | Khatami | Ahmadinejad |
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