Iran’s
former president, set to play key role in selecting next supreme leader, dies
Former
Iran president Rafsanjani dies of heart attack
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Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani has died at the age of 82. The country's state media reports the
former leader passed away on Sunday, Jan. 8, in a Tehran hospital after
suffering a heart attack. (Photo: Ebrahim Noroozi, AP/Reuters)
By Carol Morello January 8 at 3:26 PM
Former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani, one of the most influential figures in Iran since the Islamic
revolution and a driving force for reform, has died at the age of 82 after
suffering an apparent heart attack, state media reported Sunday.
Though his power had waned since he served
two terms as president from 1989 to 1997, Rafsanjani retained significant clout
on the Assembly of Experts that will choose a successor to Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is 77 and has been treated for prostate cancer.
Rafsanjani’s absence also could have an impact on presidential elections in
May, when President Hassan Rouhani, who is considered a pragmatist, will seek
reelection.
Rouhani, a protege of Rafsanjani, reportedly
rushed to the hospital in Tehran where Rafsanjani was taken Sunday morning. He
was seen leaving in tears.
As president, Rafsanjani developed a
reputation for being ruthless and brutal, and his critics charged he had a hand
in the murder of numerous DISSIDENTS. Argentine prosecutors suspected
Rafsanjani was among Iranian officials involved in the bombing of a Jewish
center in Buenos Aires in 1994 that killed 85 people. But in later years, he
became known as a champion of reformists who were otherwise marginalized from
power.
His death leaves a huge vacuum among
moderate Iranians who seek reforms in the country’s political life and economic
and cultural openings to the West. His funeral will be held Tuesday, and
analysts will be looking for clues to whether marginalized reformists will be
galvanized to unite or hard-liners will consolidate their power.
“It’s a loss for the pragmatist and
reformist camp,” said Barbara Slavin, acting director of the Future of Iran
Initiative at the Atlantic Council. “How big a loss depends on when Khamenei
dies, and where Iran is. It depends on where relations stand with the United
States and the international community, whether we’re back to a period of
hostility or whether the nuclear deal survives and there’s a kind of detente
with the U.S. And we won’t know that until our own new president takes office
and puts his policies into effect.”
Rafsanjani was one of the founding fathers
of Iran’s Islamic republic and an aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the
leader of the 1979 revolution. He was involved in the secret negotiations
between Iran and the United States in the 1980s that led to the Iran-contra
scandal. Those talks were one of several Rafsanjani efforts to find a way to
mend relations with Washington ruptured by the prolonged holding of hostages in
the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
Rafsanjani also had a hand in founding
Iran’s nuclear program. But he supported Rouhani’s negotiations with six world
powers to scale back the capability to build nuclear weapons, in exchange for
the easing of international sanctions that shackled Iran’s economy. As recently
as last month, he was appealing to international investors, assuring them of
the financial protections that they found lacking.
State-run television announced that Rafsanjani
had died “after a lifetime of fighting and constant efforts in line with
fulfilling the goals of Islam and the revolution.”
During his life, Rafsanjani was a
controversial figure. As president, he was reviled by many Iranians, who
considered him corrupt because of suspicions that he had used his position to
enrich his family.
He and his intelligence services
were also implicated in the assassinations of DISSIDENTS in Iran and Europe, as
well as in terrorist attacks on civilians.
“Although Rafsanjani has long been
identified as a pragmatist, he was an integral part of the Islamic republic’s
security apparatus, one which tortured DISSIDENTS, conducted foreign
assassinations and terrorist attacks, and helped cover the Iranian nuclear
program in a shroud of secrecy while soliciting foreign assistance and
material,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran analyst with the Foundation for
Defense of Democracies.
But in the eyes of many reformists,
Rafsanjani redeemed himself when he supported the Green Movement after the 2009
election that was contested by protesters demanding the removal of President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“Since 2009, he was the center of gravity
for reformist and moderate forces,” said Hadi Ghaemi, head of the New
York-based International Campaign for Human rights in Iran. “Now, in a way,
they have lost their godfather.”
Rafsanjani played a key role in Rouhani’s
election, even leading Rouhani into parliament by the hand the first time he
visited as president. Rouhani is often mentioned as a potential successor to
become supreme leader once Khamenei dies. But the assumption was that
Rafsanjani would be alive to help make that happen.
“His chances of winning this power
struggle without Rafsanjani pulling for him in the background is now reduced,”
said Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council.
Rafsanjani was born in 1934 to a family of
farmers in central Iran and studied theology in Qom with Khomeini. During the
1960s and 1970s, he took part in the Islamic student movement opposing Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, leading to Rafsanjani’s imprisonment several times.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/irans-former-president-who-was-set-to-play-crucial-role-in-selecting-next-supreme-leader-dies/2017/01/08/53f225ec-d5cb-11e6-a0e6-d502d6751bc8_story.html?utm_term=.420ab49bf20d
