TEHRAN - Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, seeking a comeback as president, is seen as one of the few figures in Iran strong enough to tackle hardliners and push through economic liberalisation and ease relations with the outside world.
"I am not the only one" capable of improving ties with the United States, Rafsanjani said in February, "but I am one of a few".
"The electorate are convinced that he is the only one, and the West thinks the same," said a close aide to the top cleric, who has already held the Islamic republic's presidency from 1989 to 1997.
"He is also remembered as a figure who presided over an economic revival, increased living standards and created jobs," the source told AFP.
Rafsanjani, 70, has remained a central pillar of the Islamic regime thoughout its the 26-year history -- serving two terms as president before moving on to head the Expediency Council, Iran's top political arbitration body.
Widely seen as Iran's de facto number-two behind supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in recent years he has nevertheless managed to keep a distance from tensions between reformists and hardliners and to acquire an image of a conservative-leaning pragmatist.
Having moved from the southern town of Rafsanjan to study theology in the Shiite clerical nerve centre of Qom at the age of 14, he participated in the anti-monarchy movement during the 1960s and was frequently arrested by the shah's secret police.
An early follower of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the regime, Rafsanjani managed to survive the early attacks on the ruling clerics -- even suffering a bullet wound to the stomach.
His first official post was as parliament speaker from 1980, after which he also played a key role in the elimination of the regime's leftist opponents.
He took part in the dealings with Washington to exchange arms for US hostages in Lebanon -- the so-called Irangate scandal -- and as head of the armed forces managed to convince Khomeini in 1988 to "drink the poison chalice" and accept a ceasefire with Saddam Hussein's Iraq after an eight-year war.
His presidency was marked by a post-war boom and tentative liberalisation, but was also marred by a string of murders and assassinations of dissidents and regime opponents at home and abroad.
In 1997 he backed his successor -- the reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami --, falling out of favour with hardliners opposed to the moderate cleric. But he was also shunned by radical refomists.
But with reformers lacking a strong candidate, analysts say Rafsanjani could now count on the backing of moderates hoping to stem a hardline takeover -- while at the same time holding the support of centrists and traditional conservatives.
His image as a politician who can also be ruthless if need be is also seen as being attractive to many Iranians frustrated by the perceived weakness of Khatami.
Politically, he is conservative yet progressive on some issues -- hostile to the rapid pace of social reform that Khatami had been pushing for, but a leading force behind economic liberalisation.
"Mr Rafsanjani will not be a danger to the social and cultural liberalisation of the Khatami years," another aide to the cleric asserted.
And while he can still assert his revolutionary credentials and rally the faithful with colourful tirades against arch-enemy Washington, his fiery speeches belie a record as a politician who has favoured rapprochement with the West on Iran's own terms.
Rafsanjani, however, remains dogged by gossip over his alleged wealth. He is rumoured to control assets ranging from hotels to automobile factories, grocery stores to pistachio plantations.
He recently denied being rich.
But observers say this image could work for and against him -- being a successful businessman is a vote winner among an electorate eager to see a president with a bread-and-butter focus, but it could also draw a smear campaign based on corruption allegations.
04/25/2005 17:25 GMT