REPORT: Former Iran president Rafsanjani dies in blow to moderates

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani died on Sunday at the age of 82, a big blow to moderates and reformists deprived now of their most influential supporter in the Islamic establishment.

He had been described as "a pillar of the Islamic revolution". His pragmatic policies - economic liberalization, better relations with the West and empowering elected bodies - appealed to many Iranians but were despised by hardliners.

Few have wielded such influence in modern Iran but since 2009 Rafsanjani and his family faced political isolation over their support for the opposition movement which lost a disputed election that year to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rafsanjani headed the Expediency Council, a body which is intended to resolve disputes between the parliament and the Guardian Council.

He was also a member of the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that selects the supreme leader, Iran's most powerful figure. His absence from that debate, whenever it happens, means the chances of a pragmatist emerging as the next supreme leader are reduced.

His death ahead of May's presidential elections is a blow to moderate president Hassan Rouhani who allied himself with Rafsanjani to win the 2013 election and went on to resolve Iran's long standoff with the West on the nuclear program.

Rafsanjani's body was taken to Jamaran prayer hall, the famous residence of the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Rohullah Khomeini, where many politicians and religious figures gathered to pay their last respects.

A crowd also gathered outside the hospital in northern Tehran where Rafsanjani was first taken.

Rafsanjani's funeral will be held in Tehran on Tuesday. Iran has announced three days of mourning including a public holiday on Tuesday, for Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989 to 1997.

Rafsanjani championed improved relations with Gulf Arab states, was known to have good ties with senior Saudi officials and was seen as a key figure who could have resolved rising tensions between the regional rivals in coming years.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, whose country has tense relations with Iran, voiced condolences on Twitter over Rafsanjani's death.