DUBAI (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of Iranians massed in central Tehran on Tuesday for the funeral of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, an influential figurehead of the Islamic Republic whose pragmatism led to a rift with Iran’s supreme leader.

Rafsanjani, who died on Sunday aged 82, was buried next to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 who founded its system of theocratic rule.

Rafsanjani’s policies of economic liberalisation and better relations with the West attracted fierce supporters and equally fierce critics during his life.

While many of his opponents turned out to honour him, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed their close bond, what was intended by the state as a show of unity was clouded by the chants of thousands opposition supporters, as well as the absence of reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami.

An eyewitness told Reuters on the phone from Tehran: “Some were chanting slogans asking for political prisoners to be released, some hardliners were shouting ‘Death to America!’. But they didn’t clash. Everyone was respectful.”

Some of the chants called for the release of former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and of Mehdi Karoubi, a cleric and former speaker of parliament who lost the disputed 2009 presidential election to incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Both men refused to accept the results of that election and were placed under house arrest while Rafsanjani, who had backed them, was politically isolated along with his family.

KHATAMI ABSENT

Two separate sources said Hashemi’s daughter Faezeh, jailed for six months in 2012 on charges of anti-government propaganda, had told people at the funeral that Khatami had been banned from attending. On state television’s live coverage, the opposition chants were drowned out by solemn music.

As a leading power-broker, Rafsanjani helped Khamenei to secure Iran’s most powerful position, that of supreme leader, after Khomeini’s death in 1989, and won election as president himself a few months later.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani touch the coffin of former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani during his funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran January 10, 2017. Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS

However, their friendship gradually turned into rivalry as Rafsanjani, who continued to wield enormous influence even after his eight years as president ended, sided with reformists who promoted greater freedom, while Khamenei interpreted the values of the Islamic Republic much more conservatively.

In his condolence message, Khamenei said political differences had never been able to “entirely break up” their nearly 60 years of friendship.

Streets were filled overnight with billboards that showed a picture of the two men smiling and chatting as close friends.

“No one will be like Hashemi for me,” the billboards quoted Khamenei as saying, using Rafsanjani’s first family name.

KHAMENEI’S PRAYER

It was Khamenei who said the final prayer over Rafsanjani’s body in the University of Tehran courtyard where the late president delivered many of his sermons during Friday prayers.

Politicians, military commanders and religious figures from all camps stood behind him.

President Hassan Rouhani, the head of parliament, the head of the judiciary and senior Khamenei advisers stood in the first line at the service, while cabinet ministers and the deceased leader’s relatives filled the rows behind them.

Rafsanjani’s body, sealed in a metal coffin with his white turban on top, was then brought in procession down Revolution Street in central Tehran, where hundreds of thousands of people came out in cold winter weather to pay tribute.

Among those attending were Revolutionary Guards Commander Qassem Soleimani, leading Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi, several of Khomeini’s grandsons and even a number of Iranian movie stars.

Slideshow (7 Images)

Rafsanjani’s death is a blow to Rouhani, whom he had backed in the 2013 presidential election and who now faces re-election having resolved Iran’s long nuclear standoff with the West but shown little of the economic payoff that he had promised.

Rouhani’s deputy chief of staff, Hamid Aboutalebi, tweeted: “The glorious presence of people of Tehran in the funeral and their tearful farewell show that they will never forget Rafsanjani’s moderate thoughts and his allies.”

Rafsanjani was a member of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that selects the supreme leader. His absence from that debate, whenever it happens, means the chances of a pragmatist succeeding Khamenei are reduced. </s> Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's fourth president and a leading moderate voice in the country, has died at the age of 82, according to Iranian state media.

For decades, the Shiite Muslim politician played an outsize role in Iranian politics. An aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the country's 1979 revolution, Rafsanjani went on to lead Iran just a decade later.

He served as Iran's president from 1989 to 1997, and has been credited with the country's recovery from a long war with neighboring Iraq in the '80s.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports that Rafsanjani enjoyed a kind of renaissance as an influential reformer late in his political career.



"Rafsanjani tried to run for president again in 2005, but was defeated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He made another attempt in 2013, but in a controversial move, Iran's guardian council disqualified him. "Voters instead chose the candidate most aligned with Rafsanjani's pragmatic views, Hassan Rouhani. Many Iranians saw Rafsanjani as a mentor to Rouhani, and his influence rose."



Rafsanjani's death leaves President Rouhani without his "political soul mate" — in the words of The Washington Post — and leaves other moderates in the country without one of their leading lights. </s> Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's fourth president and a leading moderate voice in the country, has died at the age of 82, according to Iranian state media. He is believed to have suffered a heart attack.

For decades, the Shiite Muslim politician played an outsize role in Iranian politics. An aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the country's 1979 revolution, Rafsanjani went on to lead Iran just a decade later.

He served as Iran's president from 1989 to 1997, and has been credited with the country's recovery from a long war with neighboring Iraq in the '80s.

NPR's Peter Kenyon reports that Rafsanjani enjoyed a kind of renaissance as an influential reformer late in his political career.



"Rafsanjani tried to run for president again in 2005, but was defeated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He made another attempt in 2013, but in a controversial move, Iran's guardian council disqualified him. "Voters instead chose the candidate most aligned with Rafsanjani's pragmatic views, Hassan Rouhani. Many Iranians saw Rafsanjani as a mentor to Rouhani, and his influence rose."



Rafsanjani's death leaves President Rouhani without his "political soul mate" — in the words of The Washington Post — and leaves other moderates in the country without one of their leading lights. </s> Mourners pay respects to former Iranian leader Rafsanjani

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Mourners are paying respect to former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as Iran observes three days of mourning following his death.

President Hassan Rouhani and his administration on Monday appeared at a mosque in northern Tehran, where Rafsanjani's body was brought.

Residents in the Iranian capital also expressed their grief at the loss of Rafsanjani, who suffered a heart attack on Sunday and died at the age of 82.

CAPTION CORRECTS THE LOCATION OF THE CHILDREN - Hassan Khomeini, center, grandson of Iran's late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, mourns over the coffin of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, as Rafsanjani's son Mahdi, second left, comforts his sister Fatemeh, at the Jamaran mosque in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017. Rafsanjani died Sunday after a decades-long career in the ruling elite, where his moderate views were not always welcome but his cunning guided him through revolution, war and the country's turbulent politics. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Maziar Rezaei, a real estate agent, told The Associated Press: "I don't know who is going to fill his place. He kept Iran safe from hard-liners for so long."

Zahra Qorbani, a tailor, says she is worried about her children's future. She described the late leader as a "man who always tried to fix Iran's relations with neighbors and the world."

Hassan Khomeini, center, grandson of Iran's late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, mourns over the coffin of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani at the Jamaran mosque in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017. Rafsanjani died Sunday after a decades-long career in the ruling elite, where his moderate views were not always welcome but his cunning guided him through revolution, war and the country's turbulent politics. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Family members, relatives, and officials mourn while surrounding the coffin of Iran's former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, top left, at the Jamaran mosque in northern Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017. Rafsanjani died Sunday after a decades-long career in the ruling elite, where his moderate views were not always welcome but his cunning guided him through revolution, war and the country's turbulent politics. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE -- In this May 11, 2013 file photo, former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, waves to journalists, as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, with his daughter Fatemeh, second right, at the interior ministry, in Tehran, Iran. Iranian state media said Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017 that Rafsanjani has died at age 82 after having been hospitalized because of a heart condition. Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, was a leading politician who often played kingmaker in the country's turbulent politics. He supported President Hassan Rouhani. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

FILE -- In this Aug. 4, 2013 file photo, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani., right, and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, wave, as they arrive for Rouhani's swearing-in ceremony at the parliament, in Tehran, Iran. Iranian state media said Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017 that Rafsanjani has died at age 82 after having been hospitalized because of a heart condition. Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, was a leading politician who often played kingmaker in the country's turbulent politics. He supported President Rouhani. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File) </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mr Rafsanjani served as Iran's president from 1989 to 1997

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has led tributes to former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has died at the age of 82.

Ayatollah Khamenei hailed a "companion of struggle" despite their differences, saying this was a "difficult" loss.

President Hassan Rouhani praised Mr Rafsanjani as a great man of the Islamic revolution.

The government has announced three days of mourning, making Tuesday a public holiday for his funeral in Tehran.

Mr Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, was pivotal in the 1979 revolution. But later in life he became a counterpoint to hardline conservatives.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mr Rafsanjani was one of Iran's most influential figures, says BBC Persian service's Kasra Naji

"The different opinions and interpretations at time in this long period could never entirely break up the friendship between us," said Ayatollah Khamenei.

Mr Rafsanjani died on Sunday in a hospital in Tehran after suffering a heart attack.

His body was taken to Jamaran prayer hall, the residence of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini, where relatives, politicians and religious figures gathered to pay their last respects.

Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Rafsanjani's daughter Fatemeh and son Mehdi mourn over the ex-president's coffin

Image copyright EPA Image caption People gathered outside hospital where Mr Rafsanjani died

Mr Rafsanjani had been a mentor to President Rouhani, whom he supported after his own attempt to run in the 2013 election as a reformist candidate was rejected by the powerful Guardian Council.

Mr Rouhani said on Twitter: "The soul of the great man of the revolution, symbol of patience and resistance, has gone to Heaven."

Analysts say Mr Rafsanjani's sudden death is a major blow to the president, who is preparing for re-election in May.

Iranian newspapers pay tribute

Iranian newspapers across the political spectrum are paying tribute to Mr Rafsanjani. Most front pages are splashed with pictures and captions highlighting his central role in Iranian politics. Many have used black as a background.

"Iran mourns the death of contemporary Amir Kabir," moderate Arman-e Emruz announces, comparing Rafsanjani to the man widely considered to be Iran's first reformer and moderniser.

An "irretrievable loss", moderate daily Iran laments, while reformist Aftab-e Yazd, under a picture of Mr Rafsanjani's grieving children, affirms that "Iran is mourning".

Even hard-line dailies are joining in the accolades. Javan notes his closeness to the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in its headline: "Man of tough days of fighting and friend of Imam and the Leader rushes to meet God."

Hard-line Vatan-e Emrooz describes him as "one of the pillars" and "a genuine figure" of Iran's Islamic Revolution.

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Mr Rafsanjani had warm relations with President Hassan Rouhani (L)

BBC Persian's Kasra Naji says Mr Rafsanjani was a great survivor of the Iranian revolution, always managing to stay afloat in the unending political struggles between the hardliners and the moderates, remaining influential.

In recent years, our correspondent says, he has been a central figure in the reform movement that has been trying to have a moderating influence on Iran and Ayatollah Khamenei.

Mr Rafsanjani's final role was head of the Expediency Council, which tries to resolve disputes between parliament and the Guardian Council.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Rafsanjani was a key player in the ending of the Iran-Iraq War

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was born in 1934 in south-eastern Iran to a family of farmers.

He studied theology in the holy city of Qom with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini - who went on to lead the Islamic revolution of 1979 - and was imprisoned several times under the Shah.

In the last year of the 1980-88 war with Iraq, Ayatollah Khomeini appointed him acting commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

He was seen as the main mover behind Iran's acceptance of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the war.

Mr Rafsanjani was also a key player in the development of Iran's nuclear programme, and recently gave staunch support to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

He was a man known for a sharp wit but who could also be ruthless.

He advocated progressive economic policies, encouraging private businesses and improving infrastructure. His own business holdings were reported to be widespread.

Mr Rafsanjani ran for a third time for president in 2005 but lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Image copyright AFP Image caption His son Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani was jailed in 2015

Mr Rafsanjani became openly critical of the victorious president and in 2009, he sided with reformers who disputed that year's elections. Nevertheless, Mr Ahmadinejad won a second term.

Mr Rafsanjani continued to champion moderate causes, such as the release of political prisoners and greater political freedoms for parties prepared to work within the constitution.

Some of the members of Mr Rafsanjani's family have also made the headlines. His daughter Faezeh Hashemi attracted the ire of hardliners when she met a leader of the Bahai religious minority - which Iran's leadership regards as a heretical sect - last year.

And his son Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani was jailed in 2015 after being convicted of "security offences and financial crimes". </s> Death Of A Former Iranian President May Shape The Race For The Next One

Iran's former president, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was buried Tuesday, and the large outpouring of grief at his funeral reflects the uncertainty facing Iranian moderates.

Rafsanjani may have risen along with the country's 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah, but in later years, his pragmatic streak and respected position made him a leading voice of moderation.

Rafsanjani was seen as one crucial pillar in the power base of President Hassan Rouhani, who won election in 2013 after the conservative Guardian Council rejected Rafsanjani's own candidacy. The other major source of Rouhani's support is another former president, Mohammad Khatami, who has effectively been under house arrest in recent years.

Rafsanjani's death, just months before Rouhani is expected to stand for re-election in May, leaves the moderate wing of Iran's political establishment without one of its most important voices.

"It really does create a political vacuum in some ways," says Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. With Rafsanjani gone and Khatami under wraps, he says, this hole has opened up at a crucial time.

Ansari says the months ahead will be a real political test of whether Rouhani, who shepherded a controversial nuclear agreement with world powers past hardline opposition, has enough of a power base of his own to make up for the absence of Rafsanjani.

"You know, I have my doubts about it," he says. "I've never felt that Rouhani is as big a player as some of the previous generation."

At stake is Rouhani's — and Rafsanjani's — belief that Iran's best hope for the future lies in outreach to the world and better relations with other countries, not the inward-looking self reliance often preached by Iran's hardliners, including Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

In an appraisal in The New Yorker, Robin Wright wrote that Rafsanjani advocated better ties with the West, including America. Not long ago, he tweeted, "World of tomorrow is one of negotiations, not the world of missiles."

A different take on Rafsanjani's political legacy and the impact his absence will have on the political scene comes from Gary Sick, senior researcher at Columbia University's Middle East program.

"Contrary to some of my colleagues, my guess is that Rafsanjani's departure will have very little actual impact on the course of developments," he wrote in a blog post.

"If I were in Rouhani's shoes, I would certainly be sorry to lose an ally with such sterling revolutionary credentials. After all, the centrists need all the friends they can get," he added. "However, the outcome of the next election will depend on Rouhani's ability to persuade Iranians that they are better off with the nuclear agreement and that he is capable of defending Iran's interests better than any alternative choice."

Last year's nuclear accord remains one of Rouhani's chief accomplishments, and it has brought an infusion of cash, as frozen overseas Iranian assets were released. There have also been major commercial aviation deals and a notable increase in Iranian oil exports since the deal. But economists say the benefits have yet to trickle down to the Iranian street, where they might do Rouhani some political good.

So far, Rouhani has not announced his intentions for the May elections, though supporters say he's likely to run again. Thus far, only a few other candidates have announced. Analysts say former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ghalibaf may make another run.

Hardliners are eager to make Rouhani a one-term candidate, and the man he succeeded, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been mentioned as a possible contender.

With Rafsanjani's passing, the number of Iran's founding revolutionaries still in roles of influence is shrinking. Some analysts see an imminent "generational change" for the Islamic Republic. Ansari, for one, wonders if that change will mean more moderation — or less.

"I think the worry for some of us is that really, what you have with Khamenei and ... many of those in the Revolutionary Guard, but also the political elite following on, [is a group that's] much less interested in the West, and much more tied to a sort of Russian alliance," he says. "So it's not at all clear that the change in guard will lead to a more moderating influence." </s> The streets of Tehran were flooded with hundreds of thousands of mourners attending the funeral of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on 10 January.

The funeral prayers were held at the Tehran University campus and led by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, for whom Rafsanjani was a mentor and a political ally, was also on the frontline of the ceremony, which was attended by both hardliners and reformists figures in the country.

Rafsanjani's casket was buried at the shrine of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to whom the former president was a close adviser at the time of the overthrowing of the western-backed shah and the ensuing Islamic revolution of 1979. At the funeral, mourners raised black banners and posters picturing Khomeini and Rafsanjani smiling together, the BBC reported.

Rafsanjani died on 8 January of a heart attack, at 82 years of age. As one of the central figures of Iranian politics, the regime loses a strong leader, who ruled the country as president from 1989 to 1997, coming to power just a few months before Khomeini's death.

Known at the time for his ruthlessness, suspected of sponsoring killings of political dissidents abroad and accused of human rights abuses, Rafsanjani also helped fund the country's controversial nuclear programme. In recent years he reportedly backed the nuclear disarmament deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which was implemented in January 2016 in what was hailed as a victory of diplomacy in containing Iran's nuclear threat.

In 2005, Rafsanjani ran again for the presidency, but was defeated by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom he opposed again in 2009, when Ahmadinejad's re-election was tainted by widespread accusation of fraud, sparking a protest known as "the Green movement". This put Rafsanjani on the opposite side of Ahmadinejad-backer Ayatollah Ali Khameini, who succeeded Khomeini as Iran's supreme leader, and began a rift among the country's leadership. He was seen as a counterbalance for the more radical forces in the country.

"I rarely attend religious ceremonies, but I am here as an Iranian who cannot forget Rafsanjani's contribution to developing political sphere in favour of the people in recent years," Nima Sheikhi, a computer teacher at a private school who attended the funeral, told the Associated Press.

Several videos filmed at the gathering show the crowds chanting the name of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who ran against Ahmadinejad for the presidency in 2009 and led the protests following allegations of vote rigging in the election, which became to be known as "the Green movement."

Mousavi has been under house arrest since 2011, along with his wife and fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, after they called Iranians to organise protests in the country like the Tunisians and Egyptians were doing during the Arab Spring. </s> Iranians pour out on the streets as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, to be buried.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners led by Iran's supreme leader have gathered at Tehran University for the funeral of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

State television showed people pouring on to the streets around the campus where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the ceremony for Rafsanjani on Tuesday.

Khamenei stood next to President Hassan Rouhani and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as they prayed in front of Rafsanjani's closed casket.

Images posted on social media also showed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani attending the funeral procession.

However, there have been reports that reformist leader and former president Mohammad Khatami was banned from attending Tuesday's event.

Rafsanjani, who died of a heart attack on Sunday at the age of 82, will be buried inside the crypt of Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

Khomeini's mausoleum is in south Tehran near the capital's largest airport.

Leaders of all of Iran's competing political factions also attended the funeral.

Black banners were raised in Tehran and some posters showed the supreme leader and Rafsanjani together smiling. Another poster said "Goodbye, old combatant".

Authorities have declared Tuesday a public holiday so Iranians can commemorate Rafsanjani.

Free bus or metro travel was provided to the funeral venue.

Since Rafsanjani's death, messages of condolence have poured in from home and abroad.

Even the White House sent a message, unprecedented since the 1979 revolution that led to the cutting of ties between Tehran and Washington.

Rafsanjani, a close aide to both Khomeini and Khamenei, served as president from 1989 to 1997.

He was also a major supporter of Rouhani and served as a go-between for reformers seeking outreach to the world and hard-liners. </s> Rafsanjani, who served two terms as Iran's president from 1989 to 1997, continued to be an influential figure in Iranian politics.

At the time of his death he was the chairman of the Expediency Council, which aims to settle disputes between the country's parliament and the Guardian Council.

Throughout his political career, the former president was seen as a conduit for better relations with the West.

In a sign of mourning, state television channel Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) aired a black banner on the corner of its broadcast.

Rafsanjani was a vocal supporter of current Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. After his death, Rouhani posted praise on Twitter for the former president who once earned the nicknamed Akbar Shah, or Great King. "The spirit of the giant of the revolution and politics, the symbol of patience and resilience has soared to the skies," the tweet said. Rafsanjani was seen as a key figure in Iran's moderate movement, losing a presidential bid against the former hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005. During Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election campaign, Rafsanjani became a vocal critic, chiding the election results that gave Ahmadinejad another overwhelming victory. "Ahmadinajad was largely seen as representing lower-class citizens, whereas Rafsanjani's support base came from upper middle class ... so to a degree, it was a class divide," said Mohammad Marandi, an Associate Professor of North American Studies at Tehran University. "He was one of the most intelligent people to ever enter Iranian politics. His alliances changed and shifted as he went along, which is not to say he was unprincipled. He was just very good at politics," said Marandi, whose father served as the minister of health in Rafsanjani's administration. Rafsanjani was widely respected in political circles, even amongst his adversaries, Marandi added. But among Iran's people his legacy appears more mixed. "His critics were unhappy with his liberal economic policies, which they say widened the gap between the rich and poor. Whereas his supporters say those policies helped build crucial infrastructure for the country," Marandi said. "I received the news of the sudden death of my old friend, companion in the years of the Islamic struggle ... with sorrow and woe," Khamenei said in a statement. "With the passing of Hashemi, there is no other person I know of with whom I share the long and common experiences of the highs and lows of these historic times."
President Hassan Rouhani praises Rafsanjani as a great man of the Iranian Revolution.