Faezeh Rafsanjani: My Father Tried to Convince Khomeini to End War with Iraq

Faezeh Rafsanjani during an electoral meeting in 2016. (AFP)
Faezeh Rafsanjani during an electoral meeting in 2016. (AFP)
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Faezeh Rafsanjani: My Father Tried to Convince Khomeini to End War with Iraq

Faezeh Rafsanjani during an electoral meeting in 2016. (AFP)
Faezeh Rafsanjani during an electoral meeting in 2016. (AFP)

Faezeh Rafsanjani, the daughter of late Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, revealed that her father sought an end to the Iran-Iraq war.

He proposed ending the war to then supreme leader Khomeini, but he refused, she revealed in an interview to Asharq television.

Moreover, she revealed that her father sought openness towards Saudi Arabia and backed restoring Iran’s relations with the United States.

He did not oppose ties with any country, except for Israel, she added.

Rafsanjani, who is a member of the reformist Executives of Construction Party, slammed the ruling conservatives in Iran, saying they are not seeking a nuclear deal with the West because they are actually benefitting from it.

She noted how many conservatives often slam the US and European countries, while their children purse an education in the West.

She doubted that a nuclear deal would be reached during the term of US President Joe Biden, noting that the Iranians and Americans were awaiting the outcome of the US Midterm elections.

Rafsanjani’s father had pursued reform in Iran and sought openness with neighboring countries and the West.

His daughter called on her country “to be open to the world” because few Iranians really support being closed off from it.



Tsunami Alert Lifted after Magnitude 6.7 Earthquake Rattles Southwestern Japan

 Staff clean up shattered and scattered glass caused by the earthquake at JR Miyazaki Airport Station, in Miyazaki, in southwestern Japan, Monday Jan. 13, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
Staff clean up shattered and scattered glass caused by the earthquake at JR Miyazaki Airport Station, in Miyazaki, in southwestern Japan, Monday Jan. 13, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
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Tsunami Alert Lifted after Magnitude 6.7 Earthquake Rattles Southwestern Japan

 Staff clean up shattered and scattered glass caused by the earthquake at JR Miyazaki Airport Station, in Miyazaki, in southwestern Japan, Monday Jan. 13, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
Staff clean up shattered and scattered glass caused by the earthquake at JR Miyazaki Airport Station, in Miyazaki, in southwestern Japan, Monday Jan. 13, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)

Japan issued a tsunami advisory on Monday after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the southwest of the country. The public warnings to stay away from coastal areas were later lifted.

The agency initially gave the magnitude estimate at 6.9, but later revised it down. There were no immediate reports of damage. Residents in some coastal areas were told to evacuate as a precautionary measure.

One man was slightly injured in Kyushu after falling down some stairs, NHK TV reported. Trains stopped running in Miyazaki Station, stranding passengers.

NHK said a tsunami, estimated to be as high as 1 meter (3.2 feet), reached land within 30 minutes of the quake. The waters detected at Miyazaki Port measured 20 centimeters (0.7 feet) high, the reports said.

Tsunami advisories were issued for Miyazaki prefecture, where the quake was centered, in the southwestern island of Kyushu, as well as nearby Kochi prefecture in Shikoku island, shortly after the quake struck at 9:19 p.m. according to the agency. They were all called off shortly before midnight.

People were warned to stay away from the waters, including rivers. Agency official Shigeki Aoki told reporters that people should watch for landslides as well as falling objects in homes. Aftershocks are possible, especially in the next two or three days, he said.

The quake, centered at a depth of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles), shook a wide area in Kyushu, the southwestern main island, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

NHK TV footage showed moving traffic and well-lit streets, meaning that electric power was still working. No problems were detected at the various monitoring posts for nuclear plants in the area.

Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes due to its location along the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

Experts at the meteorological agency met late Monday to gauge how the latest temblor may be related to the so-called Nankai Trough quakes, but decided not to take any extraordinary measures for the time being. The term refers to a wide region believed to be prone to periodic major quakes.

A Nankai Trough quake off Shikoku in 1946 killed more than 1,300 people. The area was hit by a 7.1 magnitude quake in August last year.