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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Rafsanjani dead alright

2017-01-09

More from the brief notice yesterday. You may commence ululating... Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died in hospital on Sunday after suffering a heart attack, the ISNA and Fars news agencies reported. Rafsanjani, who was 82, was a pivotal figure in the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979. He had been admitted to the Shohadaa Hospital in northern Tehran, one of his relatives, Hossein Marashi, was quoted as saying by the agencies. Was it AIDS, sushi poisoning or a sucking chest wound? Rafsanjani served as president twice between 1989 and 1997. He was badly beaten in the 2005 presidential election by much more hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a conservative backlash. But rather than retreating from public view because of that humiliation, he remained in the limelight, emerging as a supposedly moderate counter-figure to the ultra-hardliners clustered around Ahmadinejad, under whom Iran's relations with the West plummeted. He was NEVER a "moderate." In recent years, his influence within state institutions had waned. In 2013, his candidacy for the presidential election was rejected because of his advanced age. The next year, he delivered crucial support for the eventual winner, Hassan Rouhani, a supposed moderate with whom he has a warm rapport. He held the chairmanship of Iran's main political arbitration body, the Expediency Council, since 1990, when he was appointed by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Which means he was one of the major, if not the major, political figures in the collective dictatorship. And never a moderate.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran bails top reformist for new year celebration

2010-03-21

[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian authorities temporarily freed a top reformist on Saturday two days after his arrest, so he can join the country's new year celebrations, Fars news agency reported quoting Tehran's prosecutor. "After Hossein Marashi's arrest on Thursday to serve one year in prison according to his the final verdict (from an appeals court), he was given a leave until April 3," prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi was quoted as saying. He added that Marashi was released Saturday morning. Marashi, a leading member of the Executives of Construction group close to former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was convicted of spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic. The appeals court also upheld a ban on his engaging in any party political activity for six years, the website added. Marashi's group was a leading supporter of former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi in his election campaign against hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June. The courts have sentenced several top reformists and political activists to varying jail terms after convicting them of acting against the regime. Several detainees have been released on bail in recent weeks, but news reports say 10 protesters charged with taking part in the post-election unrest have been sentenced to death. On January 28, Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmani Pour, two members of a monarchist group, were executed. It was unclear when they were arrested, but they were put on trial alongside several post-election protesters.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran jails former vice president, reform activist

2010-03-19

A former Iranian vice president and prominent reform activist convicted of spreading propaganda against the ruling clerical establishment has begun a one-year prison sentence, a close relative said Friday. An appeals court upheld Hossein Marashi's conviction and sentence on Wednesday, one of many court rulings against activists and opposition figures rounded up in the turmoil triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June. At the center of his case is an interview Marashi gave to a news Web site last year encouraging people to gather in front of Tehran's Evin prison to protest the detention of political activists. Marashi, 51, is a relative of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a vehement critic of Ahmadinejad who leads the influential Assembly of Experts, the only group with the authority to dismiss Iran's supreme leader. Marashi is a spokesman of the liberal Kargozaran political party and supported Mousavi in June's election. Wednesday's court ruling included a lifelong ban on political activity for Marashi, according to the official news agency, IRNA.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Khatami 'will make election comeback'

2008-11-13

A former high-ranking Karensky Khatami official says the former Iranian president will 'definitely' run for office in the next presidential election. Hossein Marashi, the vice president for cultural heritage and tourism in the Karensky Khatami administration, was quoted by Tabnak as saying that political factions in Iran already know about Karensky Khatami's decisions. "Yeah. We're a shoo-in!" Representing the Reformist Party, Karensky Khatami was the Iranian president from 1997 to 2005. The Iranian scholar and cleric is an iconic political figure in the country. It has been widely speculated that Karensky Khatami will make a comeback on the Reformist platform and challenge the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the 10th presidential election scheduled for June 12, 2009. "Karensky Khatami will definitely participate in the 10th presidential election," said Marashi, a close ally to the former president. "Although he is yet to officially and publicly announce his candidacy, the political society in Iran is in on his decision," he added. Marashi stressed that Karensky Khatami's reported hesitations before deciding on the issue was logical considering the office he will run for. "I have to give serious consideration before I decide whether to run in the election. Personally, I have neither the desire nor enthusiasm to return to power," Karensky Khatami said late October. While claiming that he would need assurance of his executive powers before running for the presidency, Karensky Khatami had repeatedly said that he would decide to do whatever serves the best interests of the country. Mehdi Karroubi, a member of Iran's National Confidence Party, has already announced his candidacy in the country's 2009 presidential election. Hojjatoleslam Hassan Bukharin Rowhani, a member of Iran's Expert Assembly, is also expected to run for office.

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