IRAN: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 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad devoted a significant campaign in recent weeks to call for Mr Rafsanjani, a moderate supporter of Iran’s opposition Green movement, to be replaced.
Mr Rafsanjani served as the chairman of the assembly of experts since 2006, but withdrew his candidacy for re-election yesterday. Some analysts believe he decided to step aside to avoid embarrassment had he failed to win the assembly’s election but others say 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,” Meir Javedanfar, an expert of Iranian politics, said.
Iran’s opposition speculated that criticism from his own supporters over his failure to determine the fate of disappeared opposition leaders might also have been another factor in his decision.
Opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have not been seen in public since they were placed under house arrest following a renewed protest in mid-February.
Mr 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. Ayatollah 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,” Mr Rafsanjani was quoted by Iran’s state ISNA news agency as saying.
The performance of the assembly of experts has been criticised 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 the assembly has become a group of “flatterers of supreme leader” rather than a body to monitor him.
Mr 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 Ayatollah Khamenei as the current supreme leader.
Mr Rafsanjani’s reputation was damaged in the past decade by widespread rumours he and his family were financially corrupt.
– ( Guardianservice)