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Rafsanjani back in the limelight Publish Date: Wednesday,22 July, 2009, at 10:17 PM Doha Time By Dr S M M Nainar/Doha The current turn of events in Iran has brought former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani back into the limelight. Many are intrigued by his moves and wonder whether he is plotting to succeed the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Hussein Khamenei. Iran is governed by a complex and unusual political system. It combines elements of a modern Islamic theocracy with democracy. A network of unelected institutions controlled by the highly powerful conservative Supreme Leader is countered by a president and a parliament elected by people. Rafsanjani is an outstanding symbol of the Persian stream of the Islamic civilisation. A man of many parts, he is both a clever operator and a model of sobriety and wisdom in politics. He is very apt in playing the game of balancing between politics and ideology - the mundane and the "supra-mundane". His moves are like a barometer by which one could gauge the rough and tumble of Iranian politics. He never reacts to any situation but makes others react on his behalf. In spite of being insulted and accused of corruption by President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad in a television debate with Mir Husain Mousavi, Rafsanjani cleverly manipulated matters in such a way so as to provoke the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to publicly reprimand Ahmadinijad. It was a moment of great joy and vicarious pleasure for Rafsanjani to see the tension mounting between the two leaders. Rafsanjani is often described as a reformist among the conservatives and a conservative among the reformists. He is the scholar who suffered torture and imprisonment during the monarchy of Shah Reza Pahlavi. He was the blue-eyed boy of the founder of the Iranian revolution Ayatollah Khomeini in spite of being despised by many. Ironically, he is the one politician always preferred by the Western nations irrespective of the fact that he is strongly committed to the principle of Iran remaining independent in all its decisions. His latest political salvo was to challenge the results of the presidential election certified by the Supreme Leader. He did so in his capacity as the chairman of the Assembly of Experts which is responsible for appointing or removing the Supreme Leader. He addressed a mammoth Friday congregation at the University of Tehran on July 17 and said: "All of us, the establishment, the security forces, police, parliament and even protesters, should move within the framework of law... We should open the doors to debates. We should not keep so many people in prison. We should free them so that they can take care of their families... It is impossible to restore public confidence overnight, but we have to let everyone speak out... We should have logical and brotherly discussions and our people will make their judgments." He thus indirectly implied that the Supreme Leader is part of the crisis whereas he is considered to be above any reproach according to the terms of his office. (Based on an article by Saeed Mehio, al-Khaleej, Sharjah, July 20 and other sources)
