TEHRAN -- Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said here on Saturday that he likes “every party that acts under the laws of Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Rafsanjani, who delivered a speech at a conference held by Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative at Sharif University, answered some questions by university students, ISNA reported.
In response to a question on his relationship with Servants of Construction Party, he said, “Concerning parties, I advocate the diversity of parties”, adding he wants the parties to be efficient to control the “country’s destiny”.
He went on to say that “some people who write freely call me the father of Servants of Construction Party, but if I were a father, I would be father of all parties. But I am not their father, I am their brother.”
On his relationship with Islamic Revolution Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, he said one cannot find any person “closer than me to the Leader”, adding that “we had been friends for 50 years.”
About his plans to solve country’s problems, he said if the 20-year outlook plan is implemented properly “we will not have such problems that now the world is worried about.”
Asked about the brain drain, he said the best way to prevent it, is to create a proper educational system and employment opportunity