[PROVISIONAL TRANSLATION FROM Persian]
[Translator’s notes appear in square brackets.]
[Personal information has been redacted.]
[The excerpt below is from the section of the article that pertains to the Baha’i Faith]
[Adapted from website:] Fars News Agency
[Date:] 26 Ordibehesht 1395 [15 May 2016]
What is Hashemi’s View of Baha’ism?
While Faezeh Hashemi recently met with a key member of the Baha’i community in Iran, her father [Mr. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani] made harsh statements against Baha’ism and shed light on this perverse sect.
On 10 Khordad 1382 [31 May 2003], in his Friday prayer, he said, “Factors such as the Baha’is, the Zionists, and the Taghuts[1] were all affiliated with the Americans.”
Hashemi Rafsanjani also referred to the oppressive imperial regime in another comment and said, “The shah had sent a delegation from Tehran summoning me to that village. I went and dealt with this delegation firmly and said, ‘Here the people are Muslims. We cannot [allow] the Baha’is to preach.’”
Source: Sobh-e-No Newspaper
[1] [Taghut means an idol, symbol of tyranny, symbolically referring to the Pahlavi king as a tyrant]