Former President of Iran Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has died at the age of 82 on January 8, 2017. A man in the shadows, he was a fundamental negotiator in favor of the end of the war against Iraq. He pushed for Khamenei's nomination to the role of Supreme Leader, and was himself president of the Islamic Republic from 1989 to 1997. Disputes internal to the balance of power prevent him from running for presidency in 2013. He thus stood behind Hassan Rohani, the current Iranian president, known for his reformist views.
The biggest fortune of Iran, Rafsanjani owned a broad network of private universities,...