(Rooz Online) | February 25, 2010
Farzaneh Bazrpour
The seventh of Iran’s Assembly of Experts on Leadership, mandated by the constitution oversee the performance of the supreme leader began its annual session yesterday with Hashemi Rafsanjani’s speech but in the absence of Mohammad Yazdi. On Monday, the hardline Kayhan daily announced the session’s agenda to be “praising the supreme leader’s wisdom.” Noting that “Those who care for the revolution must clarify their position vis-à-vis supporters of regime-change and opponents of the supreme leader, and must regard him as the center of unity,” Hashemi Rafsanjani said, “In between our meetings, unfortunate incidents occurred that were unprecedented in our country, and these incidents caused disputes and in some instances hostilities, and events took place that no Muslim heart could accept.”
Hashemi spoke about “signs” pointing towards “unity and cooperation” while Mohammad Yazdi, who has repeatedly blasted him, was the major figure absent at the session.