On January 8, 2017, the founding member of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and president for two consecutive terms, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, passed away after suffering a heart attack at the age of 82.
Elected as the first post-Revolution Parliament Speaker in 1980 and also served as Imam Khomeini’s Representative to the Supreme Council of National Defense (in Iraqi war) from 1980 to 89.