Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran’s former president and one of the most influential politicians in its ruling hierarchy, has abandoned his position as the head of a powerful clerical body charged with appointing and dismissing the supreme leader.
The move came after hardliners sympathetic to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mounted a significant campaign in recent weeks to call for Rafsanjani, a moderate supporter of Iran’s opposition Green movement, to be replaced.
Rafsanjani served as the chairman of the Assembly of Experts since 2006, but withdrew his candidacy for re-election on Tuesday.
Photo: Reuters
Some analysts believe that Rafsanjani decided to step aside to avoid embarrassment had he failed to win the assembly’s election, but others assert he was ordered by the supreme leader to do so.
“Since 2006 he has been elected as the head of the assembly every two years and I think he was really keen to run this time as well, but I believe he had a hint from the supreme leader to step aside,” said Meir Javedanfar, an expert in Iranian politics.
Iran’s opposition speculated that criticism from his own supporters over his failure to determine the fate of disappeared opposition leaders might have been another factor in his decision.
Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have not been seen in public since they were placed under house arrest following a renewed protest in the middle of last month.
Rafsanjani said in a speech at the assembly that he stepped aside to “avoid division” and instead voiced support for the candidacy of Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani. Kani, the sole candidate, got 63 votes in the 86-member body.
“I regard division at the assembly as detrimental ... I had said before that should Mahdavi Kani stand for the position, I would withdraw to prevent any rift,” Rafsanjani was quoted by Iran’s state ISNA news agency as saying.
The performance of the Assembly of Experts has been criticized in recent years by pro-opposition political activists who believe it failed to hold Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accountable for the violence used in Iran during the 2009 post-election unrest, which left many protesters dead. Those activists believe that the assembly has become what they call “flatterers of the supreme leader” rather than a body to monitor him.
Rafsanjani still holds the position of head of Iran’s expediency council, which arbitrates between the parliament and the guardian council, a body that vets all candidates who participate in various elections in Iran.
The 77-year-old is believed to have played an instrumental role in the appointment of Khamenei as the current supreme leader after the death of the founder of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.
Rafsanjani’s reputation was damaged in the past decade by widespread rumors among regime and opposition supporters that he and his family were financially corrupt.
However, Rafsanjani’s mediatory power as a moderate politician, which was seen as crucial for the survival of the regime, began to wane when he lost to Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election and as Ahmadinejad won more support from the supreme leader.
Rafsanjani faced unprecedented criticism from Ahmadinejad supporters after he tactically voiced support for the opposition following the disputed presidential election in 2009. His power has faded rapidly since then.
In an unprecedented move, Iran’s state TV last month broadcast pro-regime rallies in which protesters shouted slogans against Rafsanjani.
On Saturday, Mohsen Hashemi, one of Rafsanjani’s sons, resigned under pressure from Ahmadinejad’s government as the head of Tehran’s metro organization. Rafsanjani’s daughter, Faezeh, was briefly arrested last month in Tehran pro-opposition protests on Feb. 20. An arrest warrant has also been issued for Rafsanjani’s other son, Mehdi, who has lived in Britain for the past two years.
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