Word: rafsanjani
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...supervision committee, at a press conference on Wednesday. "Of course, no interference in the votes can take place except in favor of their own candidate," he said. Mohtashamipour also expressed concerns that Ahmadinejad had received a fatwa to slander some of the Islamic republic's stalwarts, like Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, in televised debates in recent weeks, implying that he could attain further sanctions from hard-line clerics to meddle with votes. (See pictures of the lasting influence of Ayatullah Khomeini...
...Ahmadinejad came out swinging in his 10-minute opening statement, charging that his government had been the target of unprecedented slander, not only from Moussavi, but also from previous Presidents such as Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. These men, said Ahmadinejad, had led Iran away from the path of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and were part of a current "that saw itself as the owner of the nation, of the revolution, rulers of the people." (See pictures of the long shadow of Ayatullah Khomeini...
...breaking with the conventions of Iran's political class, the President has certainly taken a risk. "Ahmadinejad totally broke the rules of the game," said Moussavi supporter Hosseinian. "He may very well have a powerful current building up against him." There are now rumors that Rafsanjani, Expediency Council chief and the country's second most powerful personality after the Supreme Leader, has asked state television for an opportunity to debate Ahmadinejad live. State television in the Islamic Republic has rarely been this exciting...
...sole conservative candidate, but Tehran mayor Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf has signaled his intention to run, and there has also been talk of a presidential bid by former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, who carries the backing of such powerhouses in the pragmatic centrist ranks as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the clerical body that elects the Supreme Leader...
Moderates from Iran's religious establishment say détente is still possible even without an Arab-Israeli settlement. The U.S. and Iran, says Mohammad Atrianfar, a newsmagazine editor and unofficial mouthpiece for the camp led by Rafsanjani, should set up a system of diplomacy much like that between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the cold war, to prevent disagreements from turning into open conflict. "The only thing we want from the United States is for them not to mess with our country," he says. But that would mean the U.S. accepting Iran's right to have a nonmilitary...