Word: rafsanjani
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Rafsanjani has succeeded on one major front: he has shed much of Iran's ultraconservative image and upgraded or restored ties with many European and Middle Eastern countries as well as Canada. Rafsanjani's opposition to Iraq's seizure of Kuwait, despite calls in the Majlis for Iran to back Saddam Hussein, earned Tehran considerable credit in foreign capitals...
...Rafsanjani is quietly eager to improve ties with Washington, at least in part to get back $11 billion in American-held assets frozen in 1979. But Rafsanjani cannot easily reverse 12 years of violent rhetoric directed against the "Great Satan." So while government officials have toned down the + diatribes against the U.S. in the hope of better relations, they still lash out now and again lest the contradictions become too obvious. Two weeks ago, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, the country's new spiritual leader, declared, "The U.S. will never have normal relations with a system that has made Islamic values...
...Rafsanjani's rise as a pragmatist is possible only because his credentials as an Islamic revolutionary are impeccable. Yet he has consistently shown political acumen and moderation throughout his government career. Several times he won popular elections to posts, and in Friday prayers his easy manner is refreshing to a country tired of harangues from harsh-tongued mullahs. In his famous November sermon, for example, Rafsanjani argued that young people were being asked to deny the "sexual urge" for too long, and that "temporary marriage," a Shi'ite institution endorsing sexual liaisons for fixed periods of time, ought...
...Rafsanjani's greatest problem will be to consolidate his power. But the system, which is fairly democratic within the terms of the Islamic constitution, makes it hard for him to circumvent the Majlis. The deputies, for example, recently fired his Health Minister for being inadequately "Islamic," and last week a similar motion against his Education Minister was under discussion. Still, Rafsanjani is gradually consolidating his authority. The Komiteh, the police equivalent of the Revolutionary Guard, is being merged with the regular police, which should limit their ability to act as independent enforcers of hijab...
...trafficking. Iranians are still scared, even as they dare to test the limits of hijab. Says a young woman who strongly opposes the Islamic regime: "If this is a transitional stage, if we have learned from past mistakes, this may be the beginning of something good." The challenge for Rafsanjani is to turn a revolutionary regime into a popular...