... Advertisement - The clashes followed a sermon by one of Iran's most powerful clerics, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who criticized the government's response to the election dispute. Also Friday, Ahmadinejad appointed Esfandiar ...

... uncertainty to U.S. dealings with the already opaque regime. Authorities briefly arrested relatives of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani in a move seen as a warning to the powerful former president not to work against Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. Other ...

... in the wake of a disputed election. The turnout of tens of thousands of worshippers for former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's sermon at Tehran University and the battles with police outside represented the biggest opposition show of strength ...

... forcefully continue on our path and will not allow the oppressors to step on our rights." In a rare note of agreement, Hashemi Rafsanjani, Khamenei's rival and a politician known for his pragmatism, has similarly claimed, "It is our natural right ...

... in front of his Bronx home by four plainclothes New York City police officers. Ten years ago: Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani offered to hold talks with Iraq and the United States in an attempt to mediate an end to the Gulf War. President ...

... 1997 By IAN BLACK LONDON -- Ten years ago, in the majlis (parliament) in Tehran, President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani crowed with gleeful contempt as he produced the Bible sent him by Ronald Reagan, in care of Col. Oliver North ...

... reformers after being removed from positions of influence and silenced for opposing the eight-year presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani, who stepped down in 1997. At the time, he wanted to loosen state control over the economy, grant greater freedoms ...

... that, just as today he received Clinton, he has previously welcomed Castro, Gadhafi and former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, and will remain loyal to them. ''We should not abandon those who helped us in the darkest hour of the history ...