Word: rafsanjani
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Iranians, however, did not see it that way. "God willing, we will carry out our duty in the coming days and make them sorry," said Parliament Speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani. At midweek the vow of vengeance was made good. Yet another Silkworm missile was launched from the Iranian-occupied Fao peninsula, about 50 miles north of Kuwait City. The missile scored a direct hit on Sea Island, Kuwait's only deep-water oil-loading facility. The strike caused an explosion that could be heard 20 miles away in Kuwait City. The loading dock's destruction could temporarily cripple the emirate...
...Administration of their moderation while publicly proclaiming their hostility to the West. Sources in both Tehran and Washington say the U.S. has been approached on several occasions over the past three weeks by intermediaries who claim to represent senior Iranian officials, including Speaker of the Parliament Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani...
Meanwhile, Iranian officials continued to vow retribution for the U.S. attack on the ship Iran Ajr, whose crew was caught laying mines in Persian Gulf waters two weeks ago. Declared Parliament Speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani: "It is sweeter for us to have a direct confrontation with the U.S. because we would be fighting with the root cause of the war." In the gulf, however, Iran avoided any confrontation with U.S. warships as the tanker war raged anew...
...Rafsanjani's political position was reinforced last week, when Mehdi Hashemi was executed. Although Hashemi was accused of kidnaping, murder and plotting against the regime, his role in exposing attempts by Rafsanjani to buy arms from the U.S. in exchange for hostages helped seal his fate. After Hashemi's arrest, his supporters leaked details of Rafsanjani's deals with the U.S. to the Beirut magazine ash-Shiraa, thereby precipitating the Iran-contra scandal...
Iranian officials responded to the U.S. military buildup with new warnings. Late in the week, Tehran Radio admitted that Iran was indeed sowing mines "to defend our coastline." Earlier, Hashemi Rafsanjani, the parliamentary speaker, had told an interviewer that Iran has factories "that can produce mines like seeds." Meanwhile, for the first time in the crisis the Iranian military went on the offensive. Two Iranian high-speed patrol boats fired on the Liberian-registered Osco Sierra, then boarded and searched the cargo ship...