Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1934–2017) was an Iranian Shia cleric and politician who served as the fourth president of Iran from 1989 to 1997. One of the founding figures of the Islamic Republic of Iran, he was head of the Assembly of Experts from 2007 to 2011 and chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. During his career he served as speaker of parliament, commander-in-chief during the Iran–Iraq War, and played a role in selecting Ali Khamenei as supreme leader.