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The now outlawed Tehran weekly Payam-e Daneshjou ("Message of the Students" - formerly "Message of the Basij Students" until it changed its name earlier this year) has been publishing scurrilous attacks on President Hashemi-Rafsanjani, his family, and cronies.
In one report last month, the weekly published information on alleged embezzlement schemes orchestrated by Bonyad-e Mostazafan leader Mohsen Rafiqdoust. (Some of the information may have been leaked from the 215 page Majlis investigation on the Bonyad, which was suppressed on orders of outgoing speaker Nateq Nouri at the end of May).
In a subsequent report published on May 14 entitled "The Rulers of Rafsanjan," the weekly launched a broadside against the President himself.
The Rafsanjan Pistachio Company, owned by Rafsanjani relatives, has created a "Mafia-style rule" over Rafsanjan city, the weekly alleged. The weekly alleges that the company's owners, the five Hashemian brothers (Mohammad, Ahmad, Hussein, Reza, and Mohsen), ''have been engaged in tens of embezzlement and corruption cases."
Mohsen Hashemian, who serves as RPC deputy managing director, is a resident of Dubai and handles international marketing in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. The weekly alleges that he and his brothers have taken millions of dollars in commissions from U.S. and European companies engaged in the pistachio business (BFG Co., Franklin Co., Pistaco Co., Omninut Co., and Firegreen Co.,) but provides no supporting documentation.