The website Tabnak, run by the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohsen Rezai, said in a report entitled “The most significant absence at the annual gathering of Friday prayer leaders,” that, “It has been heard that the 21st gathering of Friday prayer leaders from across the country this year will take place in the presence of the heads of the three branches of government and other senior state officials, with one noteworthy absence.”
The report added, “The gathering on Tuesday commenced with the opening remarks of Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. Last year, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered the opening address.”
Rafsanjani is a former president and the head of the regime’s State Expediency Council and chairman of the Assembly of Experts.
According to Tabnak, Rafsanjani in recent years was among the main speakers of the gathering, “but this year, his name was crossed off the guests lists by the organizers.”