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Mournful Iranians Attend Funeral of Former Leader Rafsanjani

by Associated Press

   TEHRAN --

   Hundreds of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of Tehran on
   Tuesday, beating their chests and wailing in grief for the late Iranian
   leader Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died over the weekend at the age
   of 82.
   The crowds filled main thoroughfares of the capital as top government
   and clerical officials held a funeral service at Tehran University.
   Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei held prayers by
   Rafsanjani's casket, as other dignitaries knelt before the coffin on
   which his white cleric's turban was placed, reaching their hands out
   for one final embrace.
   Just behind Khamenei was President Hassan Rouhani, whose moderate
   administration led the recent nuclear negotiations with world powers.
   Rouhani, who is all but certain to run for re-election in May, is
   viewed as embodying Rafsanjani's realist vision.
   Hard-liners also took part in the ceremony Tuesday, which was a public
   holiday across the country. Among them was Qassem Soleimani, a general
   who heads the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force, which
   focuses on foreign operations like the war in Syria.
   Both Soleimani and Rafsanjani are from Iran's southeastern province of
   Kerman and worked together during the 1980s war against Iraq war.
   Apparently banned from the funeral was former Iranian President
   Mohammad Khatami, a reformist who remains popular among the young but
   is deeply disliked by hard-liners. State media have banned the
   broadcasting of any images of Khatami.
   Outside, mourners carried posters bearing Rafsanjani's image as his
   casket slowly made his way through the streets.
   "I rarely attend religious ceremonies, but I am here as an Iranian who
   cannot forget Rafsanjani's contribution to developing political sphere
   in favor of people in recent years," said Nima Sheikhi, a computer
   teacher at a private school.
   Nearby was cleric Reza Babaei from the eastern town of Birjand near
   Afghan border. "I am here to say goodbye to a man who dedicated his
   life to make Iran better," Babaei said. "He founded the university in
   my city and developed our region when he was in power."
   Many in the crowds chanted that they would continue along Rafsanjani's
   "path."
   The semi-official ILNA news agency said that on the sidelines of the
   funeral ceremony, prominent moderate lawmaker Ali Motahari was asked by
   several mourners to free opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and
   Mahdi Karroubi from house arrest the two have been under since 2011.
   "Our message is clear, the house arrest should be lifted," some
   chanted. The police and security forces did not react to the chants.
   Rafsanjani's casket was heading to the ornate, massive shrine of the
   late Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. There, he will be buried by the
   leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the rule of the
   American-backed shah.
   Rafsanjani, a close aide to both Khomeini and Khamenei, served as
   president from 1989 to 1997.
   His life mirrored Iran's modern history. He served as the right-hand
   man of Khomeini. He led the military during the ruinous war with Iraq
   in the 1980s. He helped launch Iran's nuclear program and then pushed
   for reconciliation with the West.
   In the years after Khomeini's 1989 death, Rafsanjani represented one of
   an ever-shrinking number of leaders directly tied to the Islamic
   Revolution.
   Internally, however, his legacy remains mixed. He was massively wealthy
   and a veteran at maneuvering within Iran's opaque political system.
   He was considered a protector of the moderates, but many reformers
   distrusted him because he was such an insider and because of
   accusations he was involved in killing dissidents during his eight-year
   presidency, which he always denied. Hard-liners distrusted him because
   of his support of moderates and sought to sideline him, but he was too
   powerful and entrenched to be discounted.