also for the lack of facial hair he had, which is a prerequisite of being a mullah in iran and his life touched every major iranianrevolution and even before it. whether directly or through back-room deals, he was always there. he was seen as a steady and safe pair of hands during the turbulent years following the overthrow of the u.s.-back eed shah, and his political fortunes changed when ak men dad came to power, criticized for embezzlement but aligned himself with the moderates and made a comeback and was very, very influential in getting rehanie re-elected. >> thank you very much. >> david ignatius, if i'm not mistaken, rafsanjani goes back so far in this story that we've all been following since 1979, i think it was rauf sfsanjani, resembling a key to iran and a bible -- >> why do you remember this thing? >> qantas in some respects, but goes back so far that he was in the middle of all that and he was the one that revealed that to the world. that's symbolic of the fact of what you said. we have always been searching for those moderates in iran, and we have never been able to find those. >> he was one of the f