In comments on his website, he wrote: “Little by little, as rumours spread of the disqualification of other candidates, people felt sure Rafsanjani would not be disqualified. But when the news broke that he had been, a lot of people were very troubled.
“Someone was quoted as saying, ‘The disqualification of some is even more important than the prayers in the month of Rajab’. (a month in the Islamic calendar). One preacher said in his Friday prayers that ‘The qualification of a person who drives a Mercedes is not verified’.
“After the first five days of the period for verifying the qualification of candidates had passed, and they could not convince Rafsanjani by making promises to him or calm down the wave of demands for his presence, they demanded to have the period in which candidates could register extended by five more days. On the last day, there were comings and goings between the Guardian Council and the Expediency Council which are part of the hidden processes of Iran’s system.
“At first, one of the officials met with Rafsanjani and conveyed a message to him that it is best for him and the revolution to step down. However, Rafsanjani was strongly opposed to this.
“For the second time, one of the leaders of the branches of government came and repeated the same message. Rafsanjani replied: ‘With my presence people are getting their hopes back and I do not want to betray them.”
“After expressing concern that ‘your disqualification will have a very serious impact on the government’ it was impressed upon him that his absence would have a serious impact on the system. The messenger finally left Rafsanjani’s office.
“Then the Guardian Council finally announced overnight that Rafsanjani was disqualified. The news was so surprising that despite its official announcement, many did not believe it.”