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Why this Iranian conservative-turned-moderate will succeed Rafsanjani

Conservative-turned-moderate Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani increasingly appears the most suited figure to assume the influential role that was played by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani holds a news conference in Istanbul January 22, 2015.  REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS HEADSHOT) - RTR4MHD3

The Jan. 8 death of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani could change the balance at the top of Iran’s political establishment. Rafsanjani, who had a great influence on the Reformists and also on a large part of the conservative camp, had become an independent and moderate politician opposed to the hard-liners in recent years.

Prior to his humiliating defeat in the presidential race against hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2005 elections, Rafsanjani had been seen as a conservative. But after the 2005 vote, he started keeping his distance from conservatives, so that during the protests that followed Ahmadinejad’s re-election in 2009, he sided with the protesters and became a popular figure among the Reformists.

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