Former president dies at 82

IRAN: Former Iranian President Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a co-founder of the Islamic Republic who later proposed freeing the economy from state control and promoted more moderate views than many of his fellow clerics, has died from heart failure. He was 82.

At the time of his death, he was chairman of the Expediency Council, a political consultative body tasked with resolving disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council, a watchdog comprised of hard-line clerics and jurists. Rafsanjani died hours after being admitted to a Tehran hospital on Sunday (local time), the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Iran went into mourning, as his death was announced with television channels showing images of him praying and broadcasting his speeches and sermons.

Rafsanjani served two consecutive four-year terms as president from 1989 to 1997. He took over a year after a devastating eight-year war with Iraq ended and much of his early tenure was spent orchestrating the country’s recovery. For his efforts, he was often referred to by his supporters as ‘‘Commander of Reconstruction.’’ Others criticised him, citing alleged corruption during his presidency.

Rafsanjani was known as a pragmatic and savvy politician, adept at surviving the Islamic Republic’s fractious politics. Yet he was sidelined during the rule of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who rose to power prioritising the poor but whose two terms are better known for increasing tensions with the West over Iran’s nuclear program.

Rafsanjani’s ideas, though, have been resurrected since Hassan Rowhani won election to the presidency in 2013 and began his policy of engagement with the US and world powers,