Ayatollah Rafsanjani passes away
Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died on Sunday.
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani an influential politician and close ally to the Father of the Islamic Revolution the late Imam Khomeini in both pre and post-Islamic Revolution days and also Supreme Leader Ayatollah ASeyyed Ali Khamenei died on Sunday due to cardiac arrest in a Tehran hospital at the age of 82.
Born in Rafsanjan, Kerman Province, central Iran, on August 25, 1934, the late ayatollah played a key role in the pre-Islamic Revolution era in a campaign leading to the fall of the monarchy of Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi.
The late Ayatollah Rafsanjani served in different key positions in the post-revolution era, including membership in the Revolutionary Council, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces during the eight years of Iraq's imposed war against Iran (1980-88), speaker of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) for three terms, and serving as the country's president from 1989-1997.
He was also the head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 until 2011. Serving as the chairman of the Expediency Council was the last position of the veteran cleric.
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