Video Released of Hashemi Rafsanjani Regarding ‘Security Forces Pressure’ to Disqualify Him; Heydar Moslehi Retreats from Controversial Statements

Reactions to statements by former Iran’s Intelligence Minister regarding the disqualification of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the 2013 presidential election took on new dimensions on Tuesday, June 15, following the release of a previously unreleased video from Hashemi Rafsanjani.

In this video, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who at that time was the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, attributes his “failure to qualify” in the presidential election to “pressure from security and military forces.” Rafsanjani states in the video that the Intelligence Ministry knew that “more than 70 percent of people in the first round” would vote for him, and therefore they removed him from the electoral scene.

Heydar Moslehi, who two days earlier had explicitly stated in an interview that Hashemi Rafsanjani was disqualified in 2013 based on his recommendation to the Guardian Council, claimed on Tuesday in a series of tweets that what he had stated in that interview was a partial and incomplete presentation of his views “regarding the qualification verification process in 2013.”

Moslehi had stated in his television interview that the Intelligence Ministry had predicted in 2013 that Rafsanjani would win the election, and for this reason, he attended the Guardian Council and asked its members to consider the “costs and benefits” and disqualify Rafsanjani.

In response to these reports, Ishaq Jahangiri, the First Vice President of Iran who headed Rafsanjani’s electoral headquarters in 2013, called on the Guardian Council in a series of tweets to release the video and audio of the meeting to which Heydar Moslehi referred.

Furthermore, Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the son of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, wrote a letter on Monday to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, seeking his “grievance redressal.”

Source: Voice of America