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.



Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Threatens to Quit Netanyahu Cabinet over Gaza Deal

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks while a conference on the resettlement of the Gaza Strip takes place, at an unspecified location in southern Israel, October 21, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks while a conference on the resettlement of the Gaza Strip takes place, at an unspecified location in southern Israel, October 21, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Minister Ben-Gvir Threatens to Quit Netanyahu Cabinet over Gaza Deal

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks while a conference on the resettlement of the Gaza Strip takes place, at an unspecified location in southern Israel, October 21, 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks while a conference on the resettlement of the Gaza Strip takes place, at an unspecified location in southern Israel, October 21, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened on Tuesday to quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if he agrees to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal being negotiated at talks in Qatar.

Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu's government, urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas.

"This move is our only chance to prevent (the deal's) execution, and prevent Israel's surrender to Hamas, after more than a year of bloody war, in which more than 400 IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers fell in the Gaza Strip, and to ensure that their deaths are not in vain," Ben-Gvir said on X.

Smotrich said on Monday that he objects to the deal but did not threaten to bolt Netanyahu's coalition. A majority of ministers are expected to back the phased ceasefire deal, which details a halt to fighting and the release of hostages.

Ben-Gvir echoed remarks by Smotrich, who said on Monday Israel should keep up its military campaign in Gaza until the complete surrender of Palestinian group Hamas, whose Oct. 7 2023 attack caused the war.

About 1,200 people were killed in Hamas' 2023 assault on Israel and more than 250 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most its population displaced.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been mediating a ceasefire deal and agreements could be imminent, officials have said.

Some hostage families oppose the deal because they fear that the phased deal taking shape will see only some of the remaining 98 hostages freed and others left behind.

Successive surveys have shown broad support among the Israeli public for such a deal.