Former president of Iran Ali Akbar Rafsanjani died on Sunday 8 January at the age of 82 due to a heart attack.

Iran will observe three days of public mourning to mark his death, according to reports by Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Rafsanjani, who was the Chairman of the Expediency Council until his death, was a veteran cleric who, after playing a leading role in the Islamic Revolution, became a leading politician in Tehran serving in various different positions after 1979.  

He was president from 1992 to 1997. He then lost the 2005 presidential election to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

After being disqualified from running in the 2013 presidential election, Rafsanjani backed President Hassan Rouhani. 

Rafsanjani was regarded as a pragmatic conservative with a less hardline stance against the West. He also supported economic reforms and was said to be one of the wealthiest people in Iran.