Word: rafsanjani
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Given the Islamic republic's two-year cat-and-mouse game with the U.S., European Union and U.N. over Iran's nuclear program, the world has reason to be skeptical of Rafsanjani's emollience. Iranian and European negotiators averted a possible crisis last month in Geneva when Iran agreed to shelve plans to resume uranium-enrichment activities in exchange for a European pledge to present a detailed package of economic incentives after Iran's presidential election. Rafsanjani--who stepped up Iran's nuclear efforts in the '90s with the construction, assisted by the Russians, of the Bushehr power plant--says...
...willing to suspend," Rafsanjani says. "But we're ready to provide greater assurances to the world that we won't move from peaceful nuclear technology to military technology." However, the Bush Administration believes that he is not likely to abandon what the U.S. regards as the regime's ultimate goal, a nuclear weapon. "Some people think Rafsanjani is a great reformer," a senior State Department official says. "He has indicated he might want to open up relations with the U.S. But he's also the father of the Iranian nuclear program." Notes a senior White House official: "If you look...
...nothing else, Rafsanjani has proved to be one of Iran's most durable politicians. A confidant of revolutionary leader Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, Rafsanjani served as the powerful speaker of the Majlis, or National Assembly, for nine years before becoming President two months after Khomeini's death in 1989. In the mid-'80s, he played a pivotal role in the secret arms-for-hostages talks with Reagan Administration officials. Rafsanjani acknowledged to TIME that "we made a limited agreement with them for receiving weapons in return for freeing hostages" held by pro-Iranian militants in Lebanon. He received a leather-bound...
...Rafsanjani's resilience has enabled him to survive debacles that would have ruined a lesser pol. Many Iranians blame him for prolonging Iran's eight-year war with Iraq by encouraging Khomeini to continue fighting after Iran's decisive recapture of the gulf port of Khorramshahr in 1982. As President, Rafsanjani withstood criticism from human-rights activists and a German court for ignoring, if not approving, the murder by Iranian hit squads of regime opponents in Europe; the Iranian government rejected the accusations outright. Rafsanjani's critics view him as opportunistic, corrupt in financial dealings and lacking guiding principles. "Have...
...since announcing his candidacy for President in early May, Rafsanjani has tried to downplay his conservative reputation. When addressing young people, he emphasizes education and job opportunities but acknowledges that generation's discontent over the lack of freedom. In campaign leaflets, he promises a "transition to democracy." His makeover is testament to his ability to read political winds. The landslide re-election in 2001 of current President Mohammed Khatami made the idea of change so popular with voters that in this year's campaign everyone is posing as a reformer of some sort--even hard-line conservatives, who appear...