NCRI – Kayhan daily, considered to be the mouthpiece of the Iranian regime's Supreme Leader, attacked former mullahs’ president, Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in its editorial on Saturday. Rafsanjani spoke at the regime’s Friday prayers on July 17.
The editorial said, "Mr. Rafsanjani paves the way for discord with his remarks, which in many instances echoed discordant rhetoric. For the dignified and selfless people of the Islamic Iran, one of the symbols of whom are those that attend the Friday prayers semon, it was very bitter and sad to see Mr. Rafsanjani surrounded by such supporters, despite his revolutionary experience (60 years according to him), while on the other side there are pious and the revolutionary people who were amazed and grief-stricken by his speech.
The editorial, penned by the Ali Khamenei’s representative, Hossein Shariatmadari, added: Although Mr. Rafsanjani has a reputation of being a clever politician, sadly, I am sorry to say that there was no sign of this quality during his Friday prayers sermon, which was unexpected. In the rest of his speech, Mr. Rafsanjani not only stayed loyal to what he had said before, but clearly supported the lawbreakers.
Referring to Rafsanjani’s backing of the defeated presidential contender, Mir Hossein Moussavi, Kayhan added: [Rafsanjani’s] remarks gave clear backing to a particular political movement, which has these days demonstrated no respect for law. Is all this not regrettable?
Kayhan concluded its editorial by saying: In the end, one hopes that Mr. Rafsanjani would note that what is going on today is not about confrontation and competition between two factions; Rather, foreign enemies and some of their domestic cohorts have targeted the Islamic state, the Revolution and the Imam [Ruhollah Khomeini, regime’s founder]. Therefore, one expects from Mr. Rafsanjani not to provide the opportunity to the known enemies of the Imam, the Islamic Iran, and the Revolution to exploit the situation.
