Iran cleric denies wealth rumours
Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who now leads Iran's powerful Expediency Council, said he was no richer than before the Islamic Revolution of 1979. "The total value of all my belongings today is not even close to the value of the house I owned [then]," he said. It is unclear what prompted him to deny rumours going back many years now. He told religious students in the holy city of Qom that he only possessed two pieces of land. "Except for these, there is nothing registered under my name and I am managing my life with a normal income," he was quoted as saying by the Iranian state news agency, Irna. Mr Rafsanjani, president from 1989 to 1997, said he was proud that after 25 years in high office his assets were a tenth of what he had once possessed. Correspondents say it is rare for Iran's clerics to comment on their personal affairs. |
