Word: hashemi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...isolation in the world of nations had become apparent just two weeks before the cease-fire decision, when a U.S. frigate mistakenly shot down an Iranian jetliner with 290 people aboard: international response was notably muted. In the following months, leading Iranian politicians such as Parliamentary Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 54, attempted to soften their country's radical image. But Khomeini would have none of it. Last February he prompted a worldwide outcry when he demanded the death of Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born, British author of The Satanic Verses, a book many regard as blasphemous to Islam...
...turned to Khomeini's son Ahmed, 43, who has been increasingly visible lately. The extent of Ahmed's influence became more apparent last week, when a 110-page memo surfaced in which he accused Montazeri of disloyalty. Khomeini the younger, however, must contend with powerful Parliamentary Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who last week emerged from a visit with the Ayatullah to declare, "God willing, we will see the Imam for long years, healthier and stronger...
Events in Iran are often fueled by forces that are not immediately apparent. Thus it was difficult to know quite what to make of the verbal missile fired last week by parliament Speaker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani during a prayer session at Tehran University. Several "big American spies," he announced, had been arrested and would be punished for plotting to overthrow Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini...
...were these unnamed liberals in addition to Khamenei? One was certainly parliamentary Speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has hinted that Iran should have ended the war in 1982, after driving the invading Iraqis out of its territory. Within days, he too chimed in with an attack on the West. "We know what our duty is regarding those who are a partner in cursing the Prophet," declared Rafsanjani. "The ground has been laid for a vast battle between Islam on the one hand, and paganism and arrogance on the other." But he tried to forestall stronger reprisals from Europe in case anything...
...recent weeks the captors have been hinting that this time they just might be more reasonable. Since agreeing to a cease-fire in its war with Iraq, Tehran has been putting out feelers about ending its diplomatic isolation and obtaining Western help to rebuild its devastated economy. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the powerful speaker of the Majlis (parliament), has shown signs of recognizing that holding on to the hostages works against both goals...