Iran Mourns The Passing Of Former President Rafsanjani

Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who served as President of Iran from 1989 to 1997, died on Sunday after suffering a heart attack. He played a pivotal role in the 1979 revolution but later became known as a skeptic of hardline conservatives. Rafsanjani was the most influential political leader who spoke favorably of the country’s reformists and his death creates a massive void in their representation. As an ex-President, his calls for nuclear compromise carried weight, and now the country’s moderates and reformists must scramble to find a representative with just as much clout. “Hard-liners will be happy, but this is the start of a period of anxiety for many,” cleric Fazel Meybodi told The New York Times. “His death disturbs the fragile balance we had in Iran.”