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Influential former Iranian regime president, Hashemi Rafsanjani died at age 82 |
prison on charges of criticizing the ruling system.
In 2013, Iran's election watchdog rejected his nomination for the presidential campaign, hinting at his age.
In 2015, a court sentenced his younger son, Mahdi, to a 10-year prison term over embezzlement and security charges.
Rafsanjani is survived by his wife, Effat Marashi, and five children.
TEHRAN, Iran, Jan. 8, 2017 — Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a wily political survivor and multimillionaire mogul who remained among the ruling elite, died Sunday, state TV reported. He was 82.
Iranian media reported earlier Sunday that he was taken to a hospital north of Tehran because of a heart condition. State television broke into programming to announce his death.
Rafsanjani's mix of sly wit and reputation for cunning moves — both in politics and business — earned him a host of nicknames such as Akbar Shah during a life that touched every major event in Iranian affairs since before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
While Rafsanjani was blocked from the 2013 ballot by Iran's election overseers — presumably worried about boosting his already wide-ranging influence — the former leader embraced Rouhani's success.
'Now I can easily die since people are able to decide their fate by themselves,' he reportedly said last March.
However, Rouhani now faces a crucial presidential election in May which will serve as a referendum on the deal and thawing relations with the West.
Rafsanjani was sharply critical of a move by Iran's constitutional watchdog to block Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the Islamic Republic's founder, from running for a top clerical body in elections last year.
Rafsanjani was a close aide of Khomeini and served as president from 1989 to 1997 during a period of significant changes in Iran.
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