Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran’s Expediency Council, says the country’s political, economic and cultural situation is “regrettable.”
ILNA reports that Hashemi Rafsanjani, in a meeting on Tuesday with a number of political activists, said: “What troubles the public, especially the youth, more than economic problems is the growing contamination of society with lies, accusations, corruption and discrimination.”
Hashemi Rafsanjani added: “Despite foreign pressure, it is expected that 32 years after the triumph of the Revolution, with the god-given wealth of oil, the presence of production and development infrastructure together with the historical, cultural and religious background of our people, the cultural, economic and political problems and all signs of lies, poverty and corruption in society would disappear.”
The chairman of the Expediency Council blamed Iran’s current situation on “mismanagement”, saying: “Threats and sanctions will not harm us with proper management and decision-making, together with the preservation of national unity.”
Ayatollah Rafsanjani is a moderate member of the Iranian clergy who, after the 2009 elections, cautiously lent his support to the challengers of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in the presidential elections.
While Rafsanjani has served as the speaker of Iran’s Parliament and the president and head of the Assembly of Experts, he was severely sidelined after the 2009 elections, even though he preserved some of his influence in the establishment when the Supreme Leader allowed him to continue chairing the Expediency Council.
Rafsanjani has been a staunch critic of the Ahmadinejad administration.
