Word: rafsanjani
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...have been harmed. Today more than ever we need unity," said former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani during Friday prayers at Tehran University on July 17. It was a crucial sermon and, in the manner of many things Persian, purposefully and delicately opaque. Some thought Rafsanjani's speech was a direct threat to the Ahmadi-Khamenei regime. He demanded the release of political prisoners, an end to violence against protesters, the restoration of Iran's (intermittently) free press. Others thought Rafsanjani, speaking with the approval of the Supreme Leader, was trying to build a bridge between the opposition...
...Secretary of State. Obama persisted, with reason: it was a good idea. How he proceeds now, after Iran's brutal electoral debacle, could be the most important foreign policy decision of his presidency. As Clinton made clear in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations two days before Rafsanjani spoke, the Obama Administration has not wavered in its desire for talks. And yet, the body language has changed. (See pictures of people around the world protesting Iran's election...
...occur at the end of July, and the inauguration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term. The date for the swearing-in has not been announced for fear of triggering a mass gathering on the scale of the Friday prayer last week, when former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani spoke for the first time since the election and condemned the government's response. Until then, protesters, even the more timid who choose to stay indoors, seem to be sticking to their tried-and-true form of dissent. At 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, cries of "Death to the dictator...
...account posted on an opposition news website by Karroubi's son. Eyewitnesses say that government supporters shouting "Death to America" were met by opposition protesters chanting "Death to Russia" and "Death to China" - two countries that have recognized Ahmadinejad's re-election. Before the speech, protesters called out to Rafsanjani using his midde name: "Hashemi, Hashemi, take back my vote. Hashemi, Hashemi, silence will make you a traitor," and "Honorable clerics, support, support...
...with powerful establishment clerics like Rafsanjani shying away from open confrontation with the Ahmadinejad government, the protest movement may need to look beyond clerical leadership. Rafsanjani himself didn't have any suggestions for how the opposition should continue its struggle, other than that it should obey the law. Mousavi advisers have talked about starting a new political party, but that would require government permission. Rank-and-file supports have been reduced to largely symbolic gestures like turning on hair dryers and irons during presidential speeches in order to trigger mass blackouts, or boycotting Siemens Nokia, which they accuse of having...