Rafsanjani made the remarks in a meeting with former Iranian diplomats, adding that those who are dispatched abroad on mission are soldiers of the Islamic Revolution in foreign frontlines, the English-language newspaper 'Iran Daily' reported on Wednesday.Ayatollah Rafsanjani said, “In a coordinated teamwork and through covert and overt diplomatic approaches, we, on the one hand, procured the military needs of the frontlines at that sensitive juncture, and on the other hand, prevented distortion of Iran’s image in the international community. This led to the glory for Iran and a disgrace and crisis for the US.”Criticizing some ‘unfair debates’ raised currently about the Iran-Contra issue, the top official said, “A number of those not involved then in the affairs of the country or those of the Sacred Defense era—a term referring to the eight years of Iraq’s imposed war against Iran—are now giving imaginary analyses rooted in their political intentions.“They want to distort history by magnifying their own roles in the Islamic Revolution and the Sacred Defense era.”Iran-contra affair refers to suggestion made by the US President Ronald Reagan’s administration for a secret arrangement in the 1980s to provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels from profits gained by selling arms to Iran. Iranian officials realized the plot and foiled it, he said noting that the situation caused huge hullaballoo in U.S.“Critics of the McFarlane affair have always been making fuss,” Ayatollah Rafsanjani said adding when eight members of the Parliament were to question the then minister of foreign affairs regarding the McFarlane affair, Imam Khomeini issued a statement titled “Where are you heading to?” in which he blasted the critics, saying, “You are talking in a way that Radio Israel won’t dare talk.”He stressed, “As the late Imam was completely informed of the McFarlane affair from the very beginning to the end, he had repeatedly made effective guidelines about it and was sure that there might be those who would try to cast doubt on the issue and he properly aborted their plans by publishing the said statement.”Stressing the role of diplomacy in the contemporary world, the top official said, following Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini attached great significance to foreign policy, underlining the importance of establishing relations with other nations.West’s support for the then Baath Party of Iraq [in its imposed war against Islamic Iran] first of all was rooted in the fear of certain Arab states of the region of having similar revolutions in their own countries, and secondly in the West’s failure to destroy Iran’s Revolution or divert it from its course by seizing important responsibilities in the country, the top official said.Noting that the West, East and reactionary forces had reached a consensus to provoke the then Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, to initiate a war against Iran, Ayatollah Rafsanjani said Iran’s political and military might disappointed supporters of the Baath Party. They feared that Iran would change into a role model for other nations and therefore they waged a war against Iran.The Ayatollah condemned Saddam Hussein’s chemical bombings of Halabja, calling it the climax of both West and East's brutality in killings of civilians. Only a ruthless man like Saddam Hussein could repeat the same crimes against Iranian cities.When senior Iranian officials and the then heads of three branches of the government decided in a joint meeting with the then foreign minister to accept the truce, Iran’s diplomatic team to the United Nations acted in a way that the international body, contrary to the will of its major powers, adopted the document of Iran’s political victory.Rafsanjani, also a wartime commander, referred to a number of diplomatic events during the war including the McFarlane issue better known as the Iran-Contra affair.Pointing to the leading role of the late Imam in all stages of the Islamic Revolution, Rafsanjani said Imam Khomeini had immunized the Islamic Revolution and managed everything properly in a wise manner as he had full command of the issues of his time and was an intelligent, careful, thoughtful and faithful jurisprudent.He referred to Iran’s historical, geographical, natural and cultural features as its strong points and said sometimes those with no knowledge of the Islamic Revolution and with their extremist ideas had caused concerns for younger people, making enemies happy.Comparing the performance of Iran’s foreign policy team in the postwar era and in the present nuclear dispute with the West, Rafsanjani said, “During those days, we succeeded, pursuing a diplomatic wisdom, to convince the world that was supporting the Baath Party for eight years, to finance Iran’s major reconstruction-era projects and now we have to defend our legitimate [nuclear] rights with the same authority.”Praising the performance of Iran’s negotiating team in the talks with the P5+1 [US, Britain, Russia, France and China plus Germany], he said, “The fact that the world has finally realized that it must talk to Iran with respect and on an equal footing is a political triumph for the country.“The Foreign Ministry has succeeded in changing the negative impressions about Iran through wise and diplomatic discussions of its directors and officials in the course of nuclear talks. “Now the world has admitted Iran’s logical stances in the talks and with the guidelines of the Leader, it will be easier to confront and deal with the extremists.”Meanwhile, Mo’ayyedi, one of the experienced directors of Foreign Ministry, briefed Ayatollah Rafsanjani on the ministry’s plans to benefit from human resources.**1425