My father is bracing for upcoming legislative elections: Mohsen Rafsanjani

Iran parliament

On Tuesday Kayhan, a daily which is widely known for its opposition to reforms and anyone reformist, highlighted what it said were contradictory remarks by Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his son about the former’s plans for upcoming elections for parliament. The following is an excerpt of the report:

Hashemi Rafsanjani said earlier [this week] that he had no plans to lead a ticket in upcoming elections. Only a few days on, his eldest son said that his father is forming a united front with [former President Mohammad] Khatami and [his deputy Mohammad Reza] Aref.

Mohsen Hashemi has released a photo of his father flanked by Khatami and Aref on his Facebook page. It is captioned: “Messrs Hashemi, Khatami, and Aref plan to build on the successful experience of the presidential elections in 2013 and form a united front to make another epic in the legislative elections.”

It should be noted that Seyyed Hassan Rasouli, a member of the board of Iranian Hope Foundation, has confirmed the news. According to Jahan News, statements by Hashemi’s eldest son that his father is to cooperate with Mohammad Khatami and Aref in parliamentary elections should be examined more carefully because Khatami has yet to disavow the sedition of 2009 which saw an uprising against the choice of the people and the Constitution.

It also comes against the backdrop of comments by Mohammad Khatami that he has no plans to return to power. […]

In conclusion, IFP would like to add that a report on the front page of Arman-e Emrooz, a reformist daily, on September 16 quoted Hossein Marashi, a very prominent reformist figure, as saying that an alliance between Khatami and Rafsanjani to lead a ticket in upcoming elections sounds “more of a joke.” And Farhikhtegan daily quoted Mohsen Hashemi as saying, “I have no Facebook account to begin with.”