The Long Career of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

In 1980 he was also elected to and became speaker of the Majles (Islamic Consultative Assembly). As the dominant voice in the Majles for the next nine years, Rafsanjani gradually emerged as the second most powerful figure in Iran’s government. He was intimately involved in Iran’s prosecution of the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88), and he was thought to have persuaded Khomeini to agree to the cease-fire of August 1988 that effectively ended the war.