Friday, March 21, 2025
Faezeh Hashemi, a former Reformist lawmaker and daughter of the late President Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, says she opposes the whole idea of a religiously-based government the very foundation of the Islamic Republic and that she believes Iran must build nuclear weapons.
In a YouTube interview, she uttered even more controversial remarks than usual. She said, “The stage for the last presidential election was orchestrated to guarantee [Masud] Pezeshkian’s victory…. [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenehi and Pezeshkian have reached an agreement to address some of Iran’s fundamental issues.”
Recommending major changes, she declared, “I believe in possessing a nuclear bomb. While the world has embraced nuclear deterrence, why should we deprive ourselves of it?” On another key foreign policy issue, she said: “We have to maintain relations with the United States, and that will be made possible only through opening embassies in each other’s countries.” Explaining her political leanings, she said, “Like my father, I am a conservative who wants reforms.”
She also repeated her claim that her fadeath during an afternoon swim in January 2017, while under the watch of several Pasdar officers, “was not due to natural causes.” Additionally, she remarked, “I have heard that former President [Ebrahim] Raisi’s family suspects his death in the 2024 helicopter crash was suspicious.”
In a highly controversial statement that contradicts Khamenehi’s narrative about enemies conspiring against the Islamic Republic, Faezeh Hashemi declared, “I absolutely do not believe in enemies!” She also expressed her opposition to the imposition of religion and compulsory hejab, stating, “I wear hejab myself, but I support women who choose not to.” In another interview, Faezeh ridiculed her own political movement, saying it had no leadership.
She said the 1979 revolution triumphed because everyone followed the lead of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. But today, she said, the opposition to the Islamic Republic is fragmented and leaderless “and I do not see that the situation will improve.” Faezeh was a leading member of Iran’s fifth parliament [1996-2000). She was popular for her ideas about women’s social liberties at the time and later. She was also the publisher of the daily newspaper Zan [Woman], which was banned by the Islamic government in 1999.
In recent years, she has twice been convicted of anti-regime activities and jailed both times. She befriended Baha’i women while in prison with them and then made a highly publicized visit to a Baha’i home where she was photographed chatting with unveiled Baha’i women.
