What’s ahead for Rouhani with death of ‘moderation sheikh’?
Headlines and analysis of what is next continue to dominate Iranian media in the aftermath of the death of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
It has been three days since Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani passed away, but Iranian media is still buzzing with coverage of the former two-time president. If anything, the wave of reactions to the death of the Expediency Council chairman doesn’t seem to be subsiding.
On Jan. 11, one day after Rafsanjani’s funeral — which saw at least 2.5 million mourners on the streets of Tehran — Iranian newspapers’ front pages were all dedicated to the sudden death of one of the “pillars” of the Islamic Republic.
The Reformist daily Ghanoon highlighted the number of mourners, running the headline “Similar to the [people’s] farewell to the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini].” Another Reformist outlet, Aftab Yazd, ran the headline “For the love of Hashemi [Rafsanjani].” The government-run Iran newspaper chose the headline “The history-making farewell,” and the moderate Ettelaat referred to the event as “The funeral of the great man of the revolution on the shoulder of the sad nation.” Referring to the attendance of people from across the political spectrum at the funeral, the Reformist Shargh daily ran the headline “The political confluence.”
Conservative newspapers also decided to dedicate their front pages to Rafsanjani, displaying pictures of the many mourners. Hinting at Rafsanjani’s burial at the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, Javan newspaper on Jan. 11 chose the headline “Sleeping beside the Imam [Khomeini].” Meanwhile, two hard-line newspapers that have consistently targeted Rafsanjani over his political approach also led with reports of the funeral. Vatan-e Emrooz's Jan. 11 headline was “Magnanimous farewell,” and Kayhan daily went with “People committed to the [Supreme] Leader did their best for the friend of the Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei].”
