Hashemi Rafsanjani

Sheikh Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (born 1934) has been the head of the Expediency Council (Iran's top political arbitration body) of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989.

Additionally, Rafsanjani has been the 1st deputy chairman of the Assembly of Experts. In the past, he was the was speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for 1980–89 and president of Iran for 1989–1997.

Sourced

2007

• The possibility of a war under the current circumstances is not far-fetched and there is some evidence for that.
  • http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=12242&sectionid=351020101

Politics

• You need diplomacy and not slogans. This is the place for wisdom, the place for seeking windows that will take you to the objective. (2005)

Elections in Iraq

• This democracy… The elections in Iraq were held despite the American opposition. It was the will of the Iraqi people and the religious authorities. [The elections] were the result of pressure by Ayatollah Sistani, by the Iraqi religious authorities, and by the fighting forces in Iraq on America. They left the US no choice but to allow the elections.
  • Rafsanjani: the U.S. Sold Biological and Chemical Weapons to Saddam Hussein. Elections in Iraq Were Held against America's Will February 2005

Support for mujahideen

• Interviewer: How do you view the fears of the creation of a "Shiite Crescent"?
• Hashemi Rafsanjani: Take Palestine, for example. We give support to the mujahideen in Palestine. Are they Shiites? No, they are Sunnis. Moreover, they are zealous Sunnis. Hamas is zealous with regard to Sunni Islam, but because of their Jihad and resistance, we supply them with aid. Likewise, when we supplied support in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo – were they Shiite? It's not like that. Similarly, in Afghanistan, when we gave supported to the Jihad of the mujahideen, we support all the groups – Sunni and Shiite alike – as much as we could. In the Iraq of Saddam Hussein, many of our Sunni brothers found refuge in Iran, just like the Shiite brothers. In Lebanon as well, we gave support when Israel invaded Lebanese territories and occupied them. We gave support to whoever resisted the Israeli occupation in Lebanon. The late sheik Sa'id Sha'ban, who was a close friend of Iran – was he Shiite? He was a Sunni scholar. It's not like that. It is not part of our plan...
  • Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani: Iran Supports Palestinian and Lebanese "Mujahideen," But Will Not Initiate the Annihilation of Israel May 2007

Teachings of Jesus

• What America does all over the world in the name of the war on terrorism, the way in which it plunders the resources of peoples in needy and backwards countries, its aggression in international organizations, which belong to all of the world's peoples, and the inflammatory propaganda it uses in order to undermine other countries – all of these certainly contradict the spirit of the teachings of Jesus.[...] Pope's functionaries [...]should say to the Americans: Through the crimes you commit you disgrace Jesus, because you use the names of Jesus and the church to win over many votes in the American public.
  • Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani: The Teachings of Jesus Do Not Exist in Today's Christianity. Popes Ignore America's Crimes April 2005

United States

• If the Americans attack Iran, the world will change. …They will not dare to make such a mistake (2004)
• There is no doubt that America is a superpower of the world and we cannot ignore them. I think that Americans should gradually begin to adopt positive behavior rather than doing evil. They should not expect an immediate reaction in return for their positive measures. It will take time.

Iran's nuclear program

• We are not bothering anyone, but we have acquired nuclear expertise and we want to benefit from it to improve our life.
• I believe the main solution [referring to the nuclear issue] is to gain the trust of Europe and America and to remove their concerns over the peaceful nature of our nuclear industry and to assure them that there will never be a diversion to military use.
• Look, as long as we can enrich uranium and master the fuel cycle, we don’t need anything else. Our neighbors will be able to draw the proper conclusions.

2009 Iranian protests

• A large group of Iranians have doubts about last month's (June) disputed presidential election ... something should be done about the situation., on the 2009 presidential election.

Zionists

• Europe resolved a great problem—the problem of the Zionist danger. The Zionists, who constituted a strong political party in Europe, caused much disorder there. Since they had a lot of property and controlled an empire of propaganda, they made the European governments helpless.
  • Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the Iranian Assembly of Experts: Hitler Wanted to Expel Jews from Europe Because They Were a Pain in the Nec. MEMRI (October 5, 2007).
  • . Hitler Wanted to Expel Jews from Europe Because They Were a Pain in the Neck
• Europe resolved a great problem – the problem of the Zionist danger. The Zionists, who constituted a strong political party in Europe, caused much disorder there. Since they had a lot of property and controlled an empire of propaganda, they made the European governments helpless. What Hitler and the German Nazis did to the Jews of Europe at that time was partly due to these circumstances with the Jews. They wanted to expel the Zionists from Europe because they always were a pain in the neck for the governments there. This is how this calamity fell upon the Muslims, especially the Palestinians, and you all know this history, more or less.[...]The first goal was to save Europe from the evil of Zionism, and in this, they have been relatively successful.

Israel

• We have no problems with Jews and highly respect Judaism as a holy religion.
• If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything. However, it will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality. Of course, you can see that the Americans have kept their eyes peeled and they are carefully looking for even the slightest hint that technological advances are being made by an independent Islamic country. If an independent Islamic country is thinking about acquiring other kinds of weaponry, then they will do their utmost to prevent it from acquiring them. Well, that is something that almost the entire world is discussing right now. (December 2001)
• We want all the Palestinians back in their homeland, and then there can be a fair referendum for people to choose the form of state they want. Whoever gets the majority can rule. (2005)

Freedom of speech

• When the shah gave us freedoms, we drove him out of the country. We won't make that mistake ourselves.
• Those in control of podiums, influence and media should avoid stirring schisms ...... and take steps towards the creation of unity.

See also

• Ali Meshkini
• Ebrahim Amini
• Yusuf Qaradawi
• Ali Khamenei

External links

• Profile: Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani at BBC News
• Profile: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani at www.aljazeera.com
• Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Video clips

• Rafsanjani: the U.S. Sold Biological and Chemical Weapons to Saddam Hussein. Elections in Iraq Were Held against America's Will (February 2005)
• Rafsanjani and Al-Qaradhawi on Unity of Muslim
• Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani: The Teachings of Jesus Do Not Exist in Today's Christianity. Popes Ignore America's Crimes (April 2005)