Rafsanjani urges following Leader’s guidelines

Amid arguments surrounding post-election developments in Iran, influential cleric Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani urges all political groups to follow the guidelines of the Leader.

Head of the Expediency Council, Rafsanjani, expressed his direct support for Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the current situation needs everyone to observe the Leader’s decrees and guidelines and the Constitution and to create a free atmosphere for giving legal responses to fair criticism.

He called on Iranian authorities and the nation to strengthen unity for ending the present political turmoil and countering problems on the international front.

“Moves based on wisdom and principles will materialize such an important issue,” he said.

The official outcome of the June 12 presidential vote, which saw President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win by a massive margin, provoked unprecedented, widespread protests.

The crackdown against street demonstrations resulted in the arrests of opposition figures, protesters and journalists — who have been put on trial on charges of plotting to topple the government — and the deaths of at least 30 people.

Among the opposing voices are Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, whose credentials are well-known since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, as well as Mohammad Khatami, a two-time former president, and Mehdi Karroubi, a former Parliament speaker.

Mousavi and Karroubi claimed ‘fraud’ in the poll and asked for its annulment. The Guardian Council, Iran’s electoral body, however, disputed all allegations and verified the results.

In his Saturday address to the session of the Expediency Council, Rafsanjani also said that authorities must follow Ayatollah Khamenei’s advice on the issue of detainees jailed in the aftermath of the election.

“Everyone in every post should be committed to the Leader’s advice on detainees of recent events and retrieving the rights of those whose rights have been violated,” he said.