Rafsanjani’s Family Talks About 'Lost Testament'

Rafsanjani (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
Rafsanjani (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
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Rafsanjani’s Family Talks About 'Lost Testament'

Rafsanjani (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)
Rafsanjani (AFP Photo/Atta Kenare)

The family of late Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani agreed that there is a lost political testament left by the president who died last January 8 in Iran.

Rafsanjani’s daughter, Faezeh Hashemi, said that uncovering the reasons behind her father’s death could reveal the whereabouts of the lost testament.

The former president’s other daughter, Fatima, said that his family would not “accept the report of the National Security Council” concerning his death.

On January 8, Rafsanjani died at the age of 83 after a heart attack while swimming in his private pool, as announced by the Iranian government.

After his death, opposition reformist websites had published photos showing bruises on the face of Rafsanjani’s body.

Other websites also claimed that the former president was poisoned or drowned in the swimming pool.

The family’s request to uncover the fate of the testament came in separate interviews published by Iran’s reformist newspaper, Etemad, with Mohammed, the brother of Rafsanjani, Yasser Hashemi, his son and Faezeh and Fatima, his two daughters, in addition to the family’s lawyer.

The former president’s family insists that Rafsanjani had left a second testament, after he had published his first testament in the 1990’s.

His brother, Mohammad Hashemi said that Rafsanjani’s testament would “not be ordinary,” considering the role he played in the regime.

Yasser Hashemi said that the testament could not be found, adding that members of his family have no accurate information about its whereabouts.

Earlier, Faezeh had doubts about the possibility that her father was killed last January, rather than died from a heart attack.

Hours after Rafsanjani’s death, the Iranian authorities prevented any person from entering his office.

Fatima Hashemi said that her father wrote a new testament four years ago, adding that she had informed the National Security Council that some personal documents had disappeared from her father’s office after his death.



Israel Launches Communications Satellite from Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
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Israel Launches Communications Satellite from Florida

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifts off at Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Axiom Space Axiom Mission on June 25, 2025, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images/AFP

Israel on Sunday said it had launched a new national communications satellite on board a SpaceX rocket from the United States.

The Dror 1 satellite was blasted into orbit on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the foreign ministry said.

"This $200 million 'smartphone in space' will power Israel's strategic and civilian communications for 15 years," the ministry wrote on X.

Accompanying video footage showed the reusable, two-stage rocket lift off into the night sky. SpaceX said the launch happened at 1:04 am in Florida (0504 GMT Sunday).

IAI, which called the launch "a historic leap for Israeli space technology", said when it announced the project to develop and build Dror 1 that it was "the most advanced communication satellite ever built in Israel".

In September 2016, an unmanned Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a test in Florida, destroying Israel's Amos-6 communications satellite, which was estimated to have cost between $200 and 300 million.