Why are Reformists criticizing Rafsanjani?
Rafsanjani's criticism of the Guardian Council has brought about the criticism of two Reformist political figures in Iran.
When Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of Iran’s Expediency Council, criticized Iran’s Guardian Council for their mass disqualification of candidates, including the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the usual criticism of Rafsanjani from hard-liners was to be expected. The editor of Kayhan and newspapers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps came out with scathing editorials. Iranian parliamentarian Seyyed Ali Mohammad Bozorgvari accused the 81-year old statesman of suffering from Alzheimer’s. The head of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office, Mohammad Mohammadi-Gholpayegani, warned that the Assembly of Experts is a “sacred place and political games and factionalism has no path.”
The most surprising reaction, however, has been that Rafsanjani’s harsh comments seem to have sparked a fight between some Reformist and moderate figures.
