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Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Bahramani (Persian: آیت اﷲ هاشمی بهرمانی), also known as Hashemi Rafsanjani (هاشمی رفسنجانی) , born August 25, 1934, is one of the most influential Iranian politicians, and is currently serving as the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran.

He served as President of Iran from 1989 to 1997. In 2005 he tried to win a third term in office, but lost on the second ballot to Terhan Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 Iranian presidential election.

Political life

Rafsanjani was a key member of Iran's Revolutionary Council at the beginning of the new Islamic Republic, together with Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Mohammad Beheshti, Morteza Motahhari, and Abdolkarim Mousavi Ardebili.

A cleric by profession, Rafsanjani became the first speaker for the new Iranian Parliament after the beginning of the Islamic Republic and served until 1989.

Rafsanjani served as President of Iran from August 17, 1989 to 1997, and as of 2005, the first president of Iran who has stepped down willingly: of his predecessors, Abolhassan Banisadr was successfully impeached, Mohammad Ali Rajai was assassinated, and Ali Khamenei was promoted to Supreme Leader.

In 2000, in the first election after the expiration of his two presidential terms, he candidated himself for the Parliament elections again, but was not among the 30 representatives of Tehran successfully elected, as announced by the Ministry of Interior. The Council of Guardians then ruled numerous ballots "void" and were able to get him chosen as the 30th candidate. He became a member of parliament again, but resigned before swearing-in as an MP. He explained his reason as "being able to serve the people better in other posts".

During a sermon at a Friday Prayer in 2001, he suggested that just one nuclear bomb could solve the problem of Israel's threatening the region with its own nuclear arsenal.

In 2005 Rafsanjani tried to reclaim the Presidency, and ran for a third term in the Iranian presidential election of June 17, 2005. His candidacy was only announced after a long and controversial decision that finally led to him deciding to run as late as May 10. In the first round of voting he placed first with 21% of the votes cast, and faced the ultra-conservative Mayor of Terhan, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a second round on June 24. The second round ended with Ahmadinejad victorious, with the Mayor winning 61% of the vote to Rafsanjani's 35%.

Hashemi Rafsanjani is currently the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council, that resolves legislative issues between the Parliament and the Council of Guardians and advises the supreme leader on matters of national policy. He is also the Deputy Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body which elects the supreme leader.

Personal life

From a marriage in 1958, Rafsanjani has three sons Mohsen, Mehdi, and Yasser (who was named after Yasser Arafat ), and also two daughters Fatemeh and Faezeh. Only Faezeh Hashemi took a political life, which led to her being a Majlis representative and then the publisher of the newspaper Zan (woman).

Rafsanjani has authored a few books, most importantly including a book on Amir Kabir titled Amir Kabir, the Hero of Fighting against Imeperialism.

External link

• Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's Official Website
• ISNA interview with Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani about the Rafsanjani family (in Persian)
• Rafsanjani's sermon calling for bombing Israel with a nuclear weapon

• Current events
• 1934 births
• Iranian clerics
• Iranian Majlis Speakers
• Presidents of Iran
• Iranian presidential candidates