The Hashemi Family
The Hashemi family, according to Iran Gate, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is undoubtedly one of the important and influential figures in contemporary Iranian history, someone whose critics and supporters strangely switched places in less than a decade.
He was the fourth president from August 16, 1989, to August 3, 1997, and before that, he was the first Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly from 1980 to 1989. During the Iran-Iraq war, Hashemi Rafsanjani, as the leader’s representative in the Supreme Defense Council, was in charge of the armed forces. He held the presidency of the Expediency Discernment Council from 1989 until his death.
From the establishment of the Assembly of Experts in 1982 until 2006, he was the first deputy chairman of this assembly, and from 2007 to 2011, he was the second chairman. Rafsanjani was the chairman of the founding board and the board of trustees of the Islamic Azad University.
But beyond all these important political positions and roles, he was always an influential individual and an effective politician whose most significant characteristic, which can be said has not been seen in any other top-tier Iranian politicians to this day, was being subject to choice.
Hashemi ran for more than sixteen elections and put himself up for the people’s vote. He participated in elections whenever he felt it necessary, even in the 2013 presidential election when there was suspicion of his disqualification due to his recent political stances.
Where did the story begin?
The new Hashemi was born in the late 2000s. However, many analysts believe that the disagreement between Hashemi and the second leader of the Islamic Republic began in Hashemi’s second presidential term over economic positions and his preferred development model.
Where Hashemi’s economic adjustment policies and his preferred development model were not compatible with Ayatollah Khamenei’s desired model, and Khamenei, who, after several years of experience in leadership, gained at least some influence, with the help of individuals and politicians close to him, especially in the parliament, thwarted Hashemi’s policies. This became a consistent approach towards subsequent presidents as well.
Now, Hashemi, who played a significant role in making Ayatollah Khamenei the leader, saw him in opposition. However, as someone who always pursued a policy of tolerance and leniency in his behavior, he did not try to engage in dualism or direct conflict. Despite the fact that at that time, Ali Khamenei suffered greatly from a lack of legitimacy and acceptance, especially among the traditional clerics and the left-wing faction, Hashemi’s story as a reformist figure, accompanied by a new reconstruction of his political image, began with the 2009 disputes.
The tension between Hashemi and Ahmadinejad became publicly evident during the 2009 presidential election. In the televised debate between Ahmadinejad and Mir-Hossein Mousavi on June 3, 2009, Ahmadinejad made accusations against Hashemi Rafsanjani’s family. Hashemi, just three days before the election, in an open letter to Khamenei, called Ahmadinejad’s claims lies, slander, and falsehoods. Khamenei, ten days later, during the Friday prayer on June 19, said:
I have known Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani closely since 1957, which is 52 years ago. Mr. Hashemi was one of the main figures of the movement during the struggles, a serious and persistent fighter before the revolution. After the victory of the revolution, he was one of the most influential figures in the Islamic Republic alongside the Imam. After the Imam’s passing, he has been alongside the leadership until today. This man has faced martyrdom many times. Before the revolution, he spent his wealth on the revolution and gave it to the fighters. Throughout this time, we have not found any instance where he has made a fortune for himself from the revolution.
On July 17, 2009, Hashemi broke his unusual silence after the election. In the Friday prayer sermon in Tehran on July 17, 2009, he accused the Guardian Council of losing an opportunity, considered the election results suspicious and doubtful from the people’s perspective, and urged the government to restore trust to the people by releasing political prisoners. The gathering of two and a half million worshippers and protesters present became the most crowded Friday prayer in Iran’s history, leading to clashes with government intervention. Hashemi, who had been the temporary Friday prayer leader in Tehran since July 3, 1981, and held the record for leading Friday prayers in Tehran with over 400 times, left this position after this day.
The 2013 Election
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani registered for the presidential election on May 11, 2013, in the final minutes of registration. However, to everyone’s astonishment, his qualification was not approved by the Guardian Council. Hashemi, at the age of 79, had run for the 2013 presidential election in Iran, but the Guardian Council disqualified him due to alleged physical incapacity.
In response to this decision by the Guardian Council, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s information base released a video showing Hashemi climbing a mountain with several companions and ultimately reaching a waterfall named Chal Mags, where he engraved his name on a stone as a memento. This video was later removed from Hashemi Rafsanjani’s official site but is still available on some Iranian news sites and YouTube. After this disqualification, analysts believed that Rafsanjani’s political presence in Iran’s domestic politics had ended, paving the way for a stronger presence by the Revolutionary Guards.
However, Hashemi, with full support for Hassan Rouhani, who was considered one of his close and trusted allies since the revolution, successfully managed to make Rouhani, who had little chance in the polls, a president through comprehensive consensus-building and relying on the social capital he had gained in recent years. But Hashemi’s last appearance in the elections was a magnificent farewell to the ballot box, as Hashemi, after participating in the Assembly of Experts election, succeeded in becoming the first candidate in this election in Tehran with over three million votes. Some analysts believe that this high and unprecedented vote was a reward for Hashemi’s steadfastness in defending the people’s positions despite all the pressures and hardships imposed on him.
This article has been published in several sections. Other sections are available through the links below.
- The Hashemi Family Part Three
- The Hashemi Family Part Two