“In 1990, when I was about to leave Iran for the mission to Germany, Ayatollah Hashemi told me that the Supreme Leader’s policy, hence our benchmark policy, was ‘West minus US’. Utmost efforts had to be taken to improve ties with Europe. In the meantime, if an opportunity came up for détente with the US, it had to be seized.”
“West Minus US: Hashemi Rafsanjani’s foreign policy in an interview with Hossein Mousavian,” The Iran Project, January 19, 2017.
Al Jazeera Inside Story Discussion on Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani:
Guests:
Seyed Hossein Mousavian – Middle East security and nuclear policy specialist at Princeton University.
Sadegh Zibakalam – Professor of political science at the University of Tehran.
Ellie Geranmayeh – Fellow who specialises in Iran at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
“What does Rafsanjani’s death mean for Iran?” Al Jazeera, Inside Story, January 10, 2017.
Former senior Iranian diplomat Hossein Mousavian, who was closely involved with Rafsanjani’s regional outreach in the 1990s, told Al-Monitor, “He believed that Iran’s relations with its neighbors should be at the highest level and the most comprehensive ones. He was ready to establish regional security and cooperation based on such an idea.”
“Is Rafsanjani’s death nail in coffin of Saudi-Iran dialogue?” Ali Hashem, Al Monitor, January 13, 2017.
“[Rafsanjani’s] most significant legacy, however, will be of ingraining a mindset of moderation and aversion to radicalism in Iran and the region. While many in the West did not comprehend this in his time, costing him dearly politically, he passed the torch to a new generation in Tehran, making it still possible to right past wrongs and reach the breakthroughs he long fought for but never lived to see.”
“Death of Iran’s Rafsanjani: Ex-president was a man of peace,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, CNN, January 10, 2017.
