More than a week after he stirred Iranian opinion with the declaration that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons on its own people, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani pulled back on Saturday: he told war veterans, “Recent quotes [attributed] to me regarding Syria…are absolutely not true.”
Rafsanjani told an audience on August 29, “The Syrian people who were the target of a chemical attack by the authorities must now face the threat of foreign intervention.”

A leading Iranian news agency published the statement but soon withdrew it. When it reappeared, the key words “by the authorities” had disappeared.

Even so, the former President’s statement caused a stir inside the Islamic Republic, with many politicians calling for him to retract the remarks.

Iranian media were quick to feature Rafsanjani’s denial. Fars News, pressing the Rouhani Government to take the “right” line on Syria, dresses up the former President’s statement, “Recently a quote from me about Syria has provided a pretext for new misuses and machinations by such (western) media, which was not at all right and correct from the beginning.”

Press TV adds this extract:

Unfortunately Syrians, who have been struggling for about two years with civil war, all kinds of suffering and extraordinary displacement, are now also under foreign [military] threats because of unproven allegations of chemical weapons use.

The question remains: is Rafsanjani now accepting the hard-line of regime factions, especially the Revolutionary Guards, on Syria?

Or did he pull back because he had succeeded — with his initial statement — in casting doubt on unconditional support for President Assad?

By EA WorldView

 

The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.