In Iran, Rafsanjani urges importance of ‘unity’

Influential Iranian cleric and politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani says no one should get cold feet in restoring one’s rights.

“It is a vital need of the Islamic Republic and establishment to find a way to strengthen national unity and establish peace in the country,” said Ayatollah Rafsanjani, who heads both the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts, on Sunday.

Referring to Iran’s post-election developments, he said, “In the recent events, the sides should act in a way which will guarantee national unity,” adding that efforts to vindicate the rights of people should be emphasized, the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported.

Rafsanjani made the remarks in a ceremony to commemorate Ayatollah Ali Qoddousi, the first Iranian prosecutor general, who was killed by the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) in Tehran in 1981.