Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (
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.
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.
Domestic policy
Rafsanjani advocated for free market. With the state's coffers full, Rafsanjani pursued an economic liberalization policy.
Foreign policy
He tried to have a good relation with
arab countries and countries in central asia and
Azarbaijan,
Turkmenistan and
Kazakhstan. However the relation with the European countries and US was poor.
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, his opponents have accused him of possessing properties and riches beyond what he claims. Finally, in his presidential campaign of 2005, he denied the rumors. He was repeatedly accused by his detractors of possessing concealed wealth but he rejected all accusations and asked for proof. Rafsanjani has authored a few books, most importantly including a book on
Amir Kabir titled
Amir Kabir, the Hero of Fighting against Imperialism.
We have no problems with Jews and highly respect Judaism as a holy religion. (October 2005)
[Rafsanjani says Iran respects Jews and Judaism]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)
["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]]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)
[Iran Moves to Curb Hard-Liners: Power Given to Relatively Moderate Body Led by Rafsanjani]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)
[Iran's Leader Joins Large Anti-Israel March]*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.
[New York Times]*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.
[Rafsanjani urges U.S. to begin thaw in ties]*
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)
