Sources Close to Hashemi Rafsanjani Deny His Attributed Twitter Account

Sources close to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of Iran's Expediency Council, have denied a controversial statement attributed to him on Twitter, calling it "incomplete" and "edited" and stating that it was published without Mr. Hashemi's knowledge. The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported on Thursday, April 1, citing an "informed source," that the content of the Twitter account attributed to Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is not related to him, but is managed by "one of his admirers." This news source emphasized that "the Twitter account attributed to Mr. Hashemi occasionally posts his old statements after editing the tweets," and therefore, the mentioned sentence is also an "incomplete" part of his remarks. The tweet attributed to the head of the Expediency Council of Iran, which has caused controversy in recent days, states: "The world of tomorrow is a world of discourses, not missiles..." This tweet was severely criticized by Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, to the extent that he stated if this statement was made knowingly, it would be considered treason. Ayatollah Khamenei also emphasized in his speech on Wednesday that "the Islamic Republic must use all tools, and today is a time for both missiles and negotiations." Hours after these criticisms, the Twitter account attributed to Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani published a correction stating that "the previous tweet was edited" and the complete sentence is: "The world of tomorrow is a world of discourses like the Islamic Revolution, not intercontinental missiles and nuclear bombs..." In this context, the website "Ensaf News" also reported that the account attributed to Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is managed by the editor of his website, who selects and publishes parts of his old speeches and interviews, a practice that has sometimes caused severe anger from Mr. Hashemi. According to this website, the individual in question "has repeatedly faced severe reactions from Hashemi and his close associates due to publishing content without coordination and has come close to being dismissed three times."