Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is often referred to as one of the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He has weathered numerous storms since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, suffered career setbacks, and even been at odds with the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, over the contested 2009 presidential elections.

Now, with his son’s 10-year corruption conviction upheld in an Iranian court and with the 2016 Assembly of Experts elections to lobby for behind the scenes, Rafsanjani is playing the part of elder statesman, engaging in Instagram diplomacy with Khamenei, making conciliatory remarks about Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia to Arab media, and taking a very public hard line against Israel.

On the anniversary of the June 1981 assassination attempt on Khamenei, who was at the time a member of parliament, the Instagram account associated with Rafsanjani recounted his memories of the event. Rafsanjani called the day “the hardest night of my life.” Rafsanjani wrote that when he heard the news, “In one instant the world in my view became dark” and “I was not able to calm down until I saw him alive.”

Before that June 24 post, Rafsanjani’s Instagram account shared a poster saying that those who criticize Rafsanjani and his recollections of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini “must not forget that his recollections of Imam [Khomeini] in the Assembly of Experts marked the future of the revolution and the source of the velayat-e faqih.” Rafsanjani will often recollect specific comments made by Khomeini. Critics accuse these recollections of being self-serving. However, one of his most famous recollections was just after Khomeini’s death, when he said that the former leader once suggested Khamenei as a possible successor, critical comments that paved the way for Khamenei’s leadership.