Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (Persian: اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafanjānī), Hashemi Bahramani (Persian: هاشمی بهرمانی; August 25, 1934 – January 8, 2017) was an influential Iranian politician. He was the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran from 1989 to his death.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی
4th President of Iran
In office August 3, 1989 – August 2, 1997
Vice President	Hassan Habibi
Preceded by	Ali Khamenei
Succeeded by	Mohammad Khatami
Personal details
Born	(1934-08-25)August 25, 1934 Nough, Iran
Died	January 8, 2017(2017-01-08) (aged 82) Tehran, Iran
Nationality	iranian
Political party	Combatant Clergy Association

Forbes magazine listed Rafsanjani in its list of richest people in the world and wrote that as the real power behind the Iranian government, he "has more or less run the Islamic Republic for the past 24 years."^[1] His wealth has earned him the infamous nickname of Akbar Shah in Iran.^[2]

Rafsanjani was President of Iran from 1989 to 1997 and lost on the second ballot to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 election on his attempt for a third term in office. He then ntried to use his position in the Expediency Discernment Council to denounce Ahmadinejad's administration. He wanted to carry out privatizations and change foreign policy. However, Ahmadinejad noted Rafsanjani's failure to make a difference between privatizations and taking over government-owned companies. Ahmadinejad also commmented on the foreign policies of Rafsanjani's administration, which led to sanctions against Iran in 1995 and 1996.^[3][4]

Currently, one of his sons has been accused of receiving a bribe of $80,000,000 from Total oil company. Analysts expect that his son will not be put on trial, however.

Rafsanjani died on January 8, 2017 in Tehran from a heart attack at the age of 82.^[5]