Rare Photo Surfaces: Iran’s Rafsanjani Pictured with North Korea’s Founding Leader

According to Saed News, a decades-old photograph has emerged depicting the late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a central figure in Iran’s post-revolutionary leadership, standing beside North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il-sung. The image, reportedly taken during an official visit in 1981, shows Rafsanjani accompanied by his family during an encounter with Kim, grandfather of the current North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

The rarely seen photograph underscores a little-discussed chapter in Iran’s foreign relations during the early years of the Islamic Republic. In 1981, as Iran grappled with internal restructuring and the ongoing Iran-Iraq War, Rafsanjani—then Speaker of Parliament—sought to foster ties with countries outside Western spheres of influence. North Korea, similarly isolated, emerged as a potential partner in areas ranging from military cooperation to economic exchanges.

While both nations maintained largely discreet relations over the years, analysts suggest such early diplomatic overtures laid the groundwork for subsequent defense collaborations, including missile technology exchanges reported by Western intelligence sources in later decades.

The image’s publication today reopens debate about Iran’s enduring connections with Pyongyang. It also offers a personal dimension to Rafsanjani’s legacy, showing him not only as a political figure but as a family man engaging in high-level diplomacy.

Neither Iranian nor North Korean authorities have commented on the photograph’s release. The reappearance of this archival material comes at a moment of renewed international scrutiny over both countries’ global engagements and longstanding alliances.