World reacts to former Iranian leader Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s death

AP

The political survivor’s life spanned the trials of Iran’s modern history, from serving as a close aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the 1979 Islamic Revolution to acting as a go-between in the Iran-Contra deal.

Dubai, 09 Jan 2017: Iran’s former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died on 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. The political survivor’s life spanned the trials of Iran’s modern history, from serving as a close aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the 1979 Islamic Revolution to acting as a go-between in the Iran-Contra deal. He helped found Iran’s contested nuclear program, but later backed the accord with world powers to limit it in exchange for sanctions relief.

 

 

Reactions from around the world to the death of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani:

The foreign minister of the tiny island nation, which long has accused Iran of meddling in its internal affairs, simply said “God bless” Rafsanjani in a post on Twitter. A separate condolence from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to Iran said he was “praying to almighty God for his soul to rest in peace and inspire Iran’s president, its people and his family.”

 

IRANIAN EXILED OPPOSITION: Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the political arm of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, said in a statement she hoped the Islamic Republic would fall apart with Rafsanjani’s passing. “With the death of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the two pillars and key to the equilibrium of the religious fascism ruling Iran has collapsed and the regime in its entirety is approaching overthrow,” she said. The group, known by the acronym MEK, was listed as a terrorist organization by the State Department for years over its killing of Americans. It says it renounced violence in 2001.

 

SAUDI ARABIA: Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which is Shiite power Iran’s greatest regional rival, noticeably did not immediately send condolences over Rafsanjani’s death. One of its state-run television channels aired an interview with an MEK official that linked Rafsanjani to the mass execution of thousands of prisoners at the end of the country’s bloody war with Iraq in 1988.

 

KUWAIT: Kuwait’s ruling emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, sent condolences over Rafsanjani, saying he “prayed to Allah the almighty to bestow blessings on the deceased.”

 

QATAR: Tiny Qatar, which shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Iran, sent condolences from ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani over Rafsanjani’s death.

 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: The seven-sheikhdom federation home to Dubai, which has a large ethnic Persian population, sent condolences from its leaders to Iran over Rafsanjani’s death. Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, who is among the most-vocal Gulf officials in criticizing Iran, said on Twitter that Rafsanjani was “one of the voices of political realism and moderation in Iran.”