TEHRAN, Iran — It was Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s last journey in Tehran. The 82-year-old symbol of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran was given a hero’s goodbye, with hundreds of thousands of Iranians accompanying his coffin many kilometers on foot. People held up images of him — some new, some old, some with President Hassan Rouhani, a few with former Reformist President Mohammad Khatami, and many with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who led the funeral prayers before Rafsanjani’s body.
The controversies and contradictions that surrounded his life were also reflected on his burial day. Everyone who turned out seemed to want to say that Rafsanjani belonged to them. Conservative and Reformist supporters clashed by shouting rival chants. It was impressive to see that several hours of tension involving young people did not turn into something far worse. Still, the opposing mourners almost shouted in each other's faces, with the identity of each side obvious from the images they raised, the clothes they wore and the slogans they yelled.
