Video/Abtahi: Ayatollah Khamenei and Mr. Hashemi Opposed the Split of the Association of Combatant Clerics from the Combatant Clergy Association

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a member of the Association of Combatant Clerics, said: Considerable efforts were made to keep the Association of Combatant Clerics from separating from the Combatant Clergy Association. All the insistence was that the clergy must remain united, strong and a father figure. Ayatollah Khamenei and even Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani did not agree with this separation, but the Imam stressed in a statement that the views of all sectors of society should find a point of reference among the clergy.

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a member of the Fighting Clergy Assembly, said: "It took a lot of effort not to separate the Fighting Clergy Assembly from the fighting cleric community." All the insistence was that the clergy should be unified, strong and fatherly. Ayatollah Khamenei and even Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani did not agree with this separation, but the Imam emphasized in a statement that the views of all sections of the society should find authority among the clerics.