Elder statesman Hashemi Rafsanjani, a mercurial cleric who has played both sides of Iran’s reformist-conservative divide, is rising again as a key challenger to Iran’s president after local elections show deep discontent with the president’s hard line. Last week’s elections for local councils in towns and cities across Iran were seen as a referendum on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 18 months in office, and results so far were showing widespread victories for his opponents. Full Story