“The status of persons like the Assembly of Experts chairman should not be undermined… by people who were serving as sergeants in Shah’s army when Rafsanjani was being tortured by SAVAK,” he told reporters in Tehran on Monday.

SAVAK was the domestic security and intelligence service of Iran from 1957 to 1979.

The Islamic Revolution owes many of its great achievements to him and now “he deserves much more”, Katouzian added.

He also said all Iranian people are aware of Rafsanjani’s “countless services” to the country and now it is necessary for everyone to show courtesy when they are talking about him.