Iran's Ayatollah Rafsanjani Dies

Ayatollah Rafsanjani served as president from 1989 to 1997 and continued to play a hugely influential role in Iranian political life, espousing a pragmatic rather than hardline agenda. He was a key supporter of the current President, Hassan Rouhani, who faces re-election in four months time, in a vote which analysts say will shape Iran's future.

(Photo: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, pictured in 2015. Credit: ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)