Defense Minister of Rouhani's Government Accuses Rafsanjani of 'Unethical Behavior'

Hosseini Dehghan, the Iranian Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support, accused Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, of 'unethical behavior.' Mr. Dehghan, who appeared on the 'Shenasnameh' program on Iran's Channel 3 on Friday, December 19, stated that 'discussions about the trial of commanders after the war stem from inappropriate political disputes occurring in the country. This is more unethical than being a defense or respecting rights.' The Fars News Agency published the text of the Minister of Defense's remarks, in which he said, 'When we, in the Islamic Republic during the war, if someone wanted to flee, we had to execute them, we did not execute anyone; how can we execute someone after the war?' The Hashemi Rafsanjani website had published a report in October of this year about a meeting between several Iranian and Iraqi war prisoners with the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, in which Mr. Hashemi mentioned Yahya Rahim Safavi and stated that this senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard during the war had come close to execution several times due to 'incompetence in war.' Mr. Rahim Safavi, who was appointed as the commander of the Revolutionary Guard by Ayatollah Khamenei after Mohsen Rezaei, was also selected as a military advisor to the Supreme Leader after his ten-year presidency over the Revolutionary Guard. Nevertheless, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani added in his speech that even Ali Khamenei, who was president at the time, was in favor of executing Mr. Rahim Safavi, but he prevented this issue. This report has now been removed from Hashemi Rafsanjani's website. These remarks from the head of the Expediency Discernment Council were made in response to statements made by Mr. Rahim Safavi in August, in which he referred to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's role in accepting UN Resolution 598 to end the war, accusing him of wanting to hold power after Ayatollah Khomeini and manage the country.