“We unfortunately witness the pursuing of indecent methods by those in charge, such as making lies and giving empty slogans to the people,” Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said last Tuesday in a Now Ruz message.
The two men have never been friends and Ahmadi-nejad has often spoken angrily about Rafsanjani, openly accusing him and his family of corruption during the 2009 presidential election campaign. But Rafsanjani has not replied strongly until now.
“The Iranian people are educated and well-informed and neither deserve lies nor promises that are impossible to be implemented,” Rafsanjani said in his message carried on his website hashemirafsanjani.ir.
The clergyman said the political differences in the country were no longer only a dispute between government and opposition and could therefore no longer be hidden from the people.
Beyond Iran’s reformist and moderate opposition, the conservative faction has also voiced criticism of Ahmadi-nejad’s policies, especially the president’s economic reforms, which have so far not achieved the promised results.
“Those in charge should listen to criticism, and either convince the critics through logic or correct their policies,” Rafsanjani said.
“What we should, however, definitely not do as Muslims is act beyond ethics and disgrace an Islamic society,” he said, in an apparent reference to the violent suppression of the opposition in the last 20 months.