IRNA � Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued a message to condole the nation on the demise of the Expediency Council Chairman Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.


Ayatollah Rafsanjani passed away from heart attack Sunday evening.

The full text of the Leader�s message reads:

In the name of the most beneficent, the most merciful
�Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him do we indeed return.�
It is with deep regret and sorrow that I have received the news on the passing away of an old friend, a comrade and companion during the struggles of the Islamic movement, who was also a close colleague in the Islamic Republic of Iran over the last several years�His Eminence Hujatol Islam wal Muslimeen, Sheikh Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

The loss of a comrade, a companion with whom one has cooperated and felt close to for a full fifty-nine years, is difficult and overwhelming.

There were so many hardships and difficult moments we endured over the last decades. And there was so much sympathy and empathy we had towards one another in various eras that led us to accomplish efforts, practice patience, and take risks on this shared path.

His unique intelligence and friendliness throughout the years turned him into a reliable source of trust for all those who worked with him, particularly me.

At times, a difference of opinions and varying jurisprudences, during this long companionship, never managed to cut the ties of friendship between us; which first began in Beinul Haramain--in the holy Karbala. And the evil set forth by those who breathed temptation into the minds of people, who were trying hard over the last few years to exploit these theoretical differences, could not lead to any flaws in the deep, personal love he felt for this humble person.

He was a unique example among the first generation of fighters against the Shah�s oppression, one who suffered on this dangerous but prideful path.

Enduring years of incarceration and torture by the SAVAK, he resisted against all of these odds, then taking crucial responsibilities during the holy defense era, and later as chairman of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts, are all golden pages in the varying life of this old fighter.

With the loss of Hashemi, I do not know any other figure with whom I have had so many shared experiences for so long, on the turbulent path of this historic era.

Now this elderly fighter is before God, for the divine calculation, with a record full of various endeavors and activities; and this is the destination in which all officials at the Islamic Republic will one day encounter.

I ask God for compassion, mercy and forgiveness towards him, from the depths of my heart, and I condole with his respected wife, children, brothers and other survivors.

May God forgive us and him!

Sayyid Ali Khamenei
January 8, 2017