Ayatollah Rasfanjani, known as a defining force in the 1979 victory of the Revolution, was among the main aides to Imam Khomeini.
Rafsanjani was a pupil of Imam Khomeini and an influential politician and religious scholar who also left several theological works, including a comprehensive commentary of holy Quran.
Ayatollah Rasfanjani played an influential role both during the anti-Shah struggles before the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and afterwards through various stages of the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani became Iran’s first Speaker of Parliament after the Revolution, serving until 1989.Then Rafsanjani was elected president, in which position he functioned until 1997.
The senior cleric was also the chairman of the Expediency Council, a position he kept until his departure.
Following his passing last year, Rafsanjani was laid to rest at holy shrine of Imam Khomeini, after a large funeral procession.
The first congress in commemoration of the former Iranian president and chairman of the country’s Expediency Council, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, opened in Tehran on Tuesday with high-ranking officials in attendance.
Ayatollah Rafsanjani was from adolescence to death had declared a constant support for Imam's ideals and had association and attachment to Imam Khomeini. Some Memoirs indicate that even when the son of Imam, Hajj Ahmad Agha, could not discuss with Imam in detail about an issue; Ayatollah Rafsanjani would be able to express his views with Imam.
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