Iranian state television has announced the death of former president and leading reformer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

afsanjani, 82 and suffering from heart ailments, died Sunday at a hospital north of Tehran.

Rafsanjani, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, was earlier seen as a top adviser to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Rafsanjani's presidency saw the country seeking to rebuild its economy from the ruinous 1980-1988 war with neighboring Iraq. It was also marked by a series of cautious reforms which saw wider freedoms emerge, particularly in the country's tightly controlled media.

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