Rafsanjani’s Daughter Defends Remark that Trump was Good for Iran
Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, slammed a number of figures and parties in Iran for being “more dangerous bullies” than the outgoing US President Donald Trump.
Hashemi accused those she
addressed of placing the country on the “verge of destruction.”
In an open letter, she responded
to harsh criticism she had received from members of her family and fellow
comrades in the Executives of Construction Party.
Hashemi had made highly
controversial statements earlier in support of Trump’s maximum pressure
campaign on Iran and said that chances for reform in the cleric-led country are
diminished now that US President-elect Joe Biden will rise to power.
Responding to her brother, Mohsen
Hashemi, who had asked her to apologize, Hashemi on Tuesday accused him of
“mapping a future for himself” and seeking to “protect his interests,” an
apparent reference to plans beyond his current position as Chairman of Tehran’s
City Council.
She reiterated that Iran’s leaders
had pursued policies wasting resources and leading the country to a dead-end.
The war of words between Hashemi
and her brother on the fourth anniversary of their father’s death has made
headlines in Iranian newspapers.
The official newspaper affiliated
with the Executives of Construction Party ran a front page displaying a picture
of Hashemi and her brother under the headline “Brother Slams Sister.”
“In Iran, there are individuals and entities
that are far more dangerous than Trump in bullying and failing to abide by
rules and regulation. They have put the country on the slippery slope of
ineffectiveness, mismanagement and inefficiency, dogmatism and even taking it
to the point of collapse at times,” Hashemi said in defense of her statements.
In an implicit reference to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who is considered a moderate reformer, Hashemi said: “These days we are witnessing deviations that are much deeper than that caused by Ahmadinejad.”
