INFLUENTIAL

Ex-Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Dies at 82

Key figure from 1979 revolution to nuclear deal.

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president of Iran, died Sunday at age 82. The Isna news agency said he died due to “heart complications.” Rafsanjani was considered to be a top leader in Iran’s 1979 revolution, and was an ally of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for decades until Rafsanjani began to develop more liberal tendencies. Rafsanjani was a supporter of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. “The soul of a giant man of revolution, politics, a symbol of patience and strength, has ascended to skies,” Rouhani tweeted. Rafsanjani served as president for two terms, from 1989 to 1997. Iran has declared three days of national mourning.