Hashemi: It Was Not Unlikely That Saddam Would Repeat the Halabja Crime Even in Tehran

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani criticized those who are "upset about the end" of the Iran-Iraq war during a meeting with veterans of the war, stating that "at that time, it was not unlikely" that Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, could "repeat the Halabja crime in major cities of Iran, even Tehran." The head of the Expediency Discernment Council made these remarks on Tuesday, the anniversary of the start of the Iran-Iraq war on September 22, which lasted eight years. According to reports from IRNA and the Central News Unit, he emphasized that "a radical minority and today’s noisy claimants consider themselves heirs and demand accountability from the people; when we examine their essence, they have not even caught a whiff of the gunpowder of war." Mr. Hashemi, who was appointed as the war commander’s deputy by the then Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in 1988, stressed that "if the history of the war is written without political biases, no sane mind can doubt that Iran achieved its goals; unfortunately, these days we witness the national history being distorted for political purposes." In recent years, some commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and figures close to conservatives, who are politically opposed to Mr. Hashemi, have criticized his command during the war, accusing him of pressuring Ayatollah Khomeini to end the war alongside Mir Hossein Mousavi, the then Prime Minister. Rahim Safavi, a senior military advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei, is among those who stated in an interview in August 2014 that "Mr. Hashemi and Mir Hossein Mousavi and a couple of others went to the Imam and said: economically, we have hit rock bottom, and the government cannot finance the war anymore." He added: "The political leadership of the war, meaning Mr. Hashemi, was not in coordination with the Imam and the military leadership of the war. In my opinion, Mr. Hashemi was thinking about power after the Imam and wanted to manage the country after the Imam. Therefore, he wanted to hold power and perhaps thought that everything should not be destroyed in this war." These remarks prompted a response from Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said in reply to Rahim Safavi: "Some distortions by individuals who are less or uninformed about the Sacred Defense era are bearable, but distortions by those who were involved in the events of the Sacred Defense and even the military courts at the end of the war, and now for political reasons, present the facts in a distorted manner, are regrettable and worthy of reflection." In his remarks on Tuesday, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council reiterated his criticisms, stating: "Takfiris, who have historical grudges against Shiites and especially Iran, have made the region unsafe, and they are pleased to spread discord in Iran to stir up trouble, while there are also groups inside whose goals are unclear and who constantly beat the drum of division." In another part of his remarks, he referred to the fate of Saddam Hussein and the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, which he called the "fifth column of the Ba'athists," as "instructive" and said: "The judge who tried Saddam came to Iran after the execution and gifted me the pen with which he signed the execution order, which is now kept as a symbol of the victory of the Iranian people in the presidential museum." Saddam Hussein, who was president of Iraq from July 1979 to April 2003, was executed by hanging on December 30, 2006, three years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq.