Then They Came for Me_ A Family's Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival - Maziar Bahari [85]
Rafsanjani started diplomatic rapprochement and tried to open the Iranian market to the rest of the world. In a country with endemic corruption and cronyism, Rafsanjani’s reforms created a new class of nouveaux riches, while leaving millions of Iranians, including many war veterans, poorer. At the same time, Rafsanjani had little respect for democracy and human rights. Many political activists were imprisoned and tortured during his presidency, and dozens of writers and intellectuals were assassinated by government agents. While Rafsanjani’s economic policies alienated poor and devout Iranians, his cultural policies angered the reformists. This led to the landslide election of the reformist Mohammad Khatami, who promised equality and freedom, in 1997.
Rafsanjani’s mistakes suited Khamenei just fine. Khamenei allied himself with the most ideological members of the Islamic government, including many commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, and tried to marginalize Rafsanjani. While Rafsanjani insisted on the necessity of economic development and political moderation, Khamenei reminded people of the ideological goals of the revolution. The two men’s lifestyles contrasted sharply as well. While Rafsanjani’s daughter became an outspoken member of the parliament and his sons became rich businessmen, Khamenei famously ordered his six children (four sons and two daughters) not to take part in politics or economic activities in order to avoid any rumors of nepotism or financial corruption. Khamenei’s supporters grew to despise what they perceived as Rafsanjani’s revisionism and decadence, and to revere Khamenei’s simple lifestyle and his ideological zeal.
Yet Rafsanjani remained an influential figure in Iranian politics. By the time of the presidential election in June 2009, many religious figures and politicians who rejected Khamenei’s tyrannical rule had allied themselves with the more moderate Rafsanjani, who was supporting Mousavi. Even many former Guards commanders who found the radicalism of the new generation of the Guards dangerous supported Rafsanjani. Because of Rafsanjani’s prominence, Khamenei and the new generation of the Guards didn’t attack him directly. Instead, after the 2009 election, they tried to incriminate his son, Mehdi Hashemi.
Rosewater answered the question about the dirtiest family himself. “It is, of course, the Hashemi Rafsanjani family,” he said. “Our holy Islamic system wants to give you a chance to reveal what you know of this dirty family, Maziar. We know that you were in contact with Mehdi Hashemi. We know that you were active in his circle. We just want you to give us one example of when and how you put this dirty element in touch with foreign agencies.”
“But, sir—” Rosewater slammed the back of his right hand against my mouth. I tasted blood, and spit it into the empty cup.
“Be quiet and listen,” he said. “Remember: you and I are going to be friends.” He then reminded me of the Newsweek interview I had done with Mohammad Khatami, who many saw as the spiritual leader of the green movement, a month before the election. During his tenure as president of the Islamic Republic, from 1997 to 2005, and even after leaving office, Khatami was regarded as the most important reformist figure in Iran. During his presidency, Khatami spoke to Ali Khamenei on the phone on a daily basis, as the supreme leader criticized almost all of Khatami’s decisions.
In 2009, four years after his term as president came to an end, he was still popular among many young Iranians, and Khamenei rightly thought that if Khatami became president again, he would try to rally the youth against him. According to my friend Amir, Khatami had wanted to run for president again in 2009 but the supreme leader had explicitly