The move comes as the ruling faction prepares to pave the way for the removal of Rafsanjani as the head of the regime’s Assembly of Experts.
On Saturday, the state-run Khabar Online reported, “The 24th round of the international Islamic Unity conference took place on Saturday morning at the summit hall with the palpable absence of one of the most familiar participants. For the first time ever, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani did not receive an invite to the opening ceremony.”
The report added that the mullahs’ President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also refused to attend the opening session to give a speech and instead sought to send his chief of staff Rahim Mashai.
The organizers, however, refused to accept Mashai as a speaker, according to the report.