Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was the supreme commander of the war during the Sacred Defense.

Akbar Hashemi Bahremani, known as Hashemi Rafsanjani, was born on 3‌^rd Shahrivar 1313 (25 August 1934) in Bahreman, a village in the Rafsanjan district of Kerman Province. His father, Haj Mirza Ali, was a landowner in the region, and his mother, Mah Bibi, was a homemaker.⁠[1] At the age of five, he began his education by attending a maktab (traditional school).⁠[2] At fourteen, he went to Qom, where he studied religious sciences in the classes of Imam Khomeini and several seminary professors, and took on the clerical robe.⁠[3] In 1336 (1957/1958), together with Hojjat al-Islam Mohammad-Javad Bahonar and several others, he published the journal Maktab-e Tashayyo‘.⁠[4] He married in 1337 (1958/1959),⁠[5] and the marriage produced three sons and two daughters.⁠[6]

Hashemi Rafsanjani began his political activities in 1340 (1961/1962).⁠[7] In 1348 (1969/1970), together with Mohammad-Ali Rajaei and Mohammad-Javad Bahonar, he founded the Refah va Ta‘ avon Charitable Foundation. This foundation served as a social and service cover for communications with those fighting against the Pahlavi regime.⁠[8] Between 1351 and 1354 (1972– 1975), he traveled to Germany, France, Turkey, Lebanon, the United States, and Iraq.⁠[9] After returning to Iran in 1354 (1975/1976), he was arrested, and was released in 1357 (1978/1979).⁠[10] In 1356 (1977/1978), he became a member of the Combatant Clergy Association and subsequently a member of the Revolutionary Council.⁠[11] With the formation of the Islamic Republic Party on 28‌^th   Bahman 1357 (17 February 1979), he became a member of that party.⁠[12] On 22‌^nd   Aban 1358 (13 November 1979), he became acting head of the Ministry of Interior,⁠[13] and in Esfand of the same year, he resigned in order to run as a candidate in the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections.⁠[14] The plan to establish provincial councils, the bill on presidential and parliamentary elections, and making the necessary arrangements to hold these elections were among his measures during his tenure at the Ministry of Interior.⁠[15] From 1359 to 1363 (1980– 1984), he was Speaker of the first term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly; during this term, the parliament reviewed Iraq’ s attack on Iran, voted on Bani-Sadr’ s political incompetence,⁠[16] and established the Islamic Azad University.⁠[17]

On 21‌^st   Mehr 1360 (13 October 1981), Hashemi Rafsanjani was appointed, by order of Imam Khomeini, as the Imam’ s representative on the Supreme Defense Council,⁠[18] and on 30‌^th Bahman 1362 (19 February 1984), he became commander of the Val-Fajr operations.⁠[19] He was Speaker of the second term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly from 1363 to 1367 (1984– 1988); during this term, the plan for building the Tehran Metro was approved,⁠[20] and the Expediency Discernment Council of the System was established.⁠[21]

On 12‌^th Khordad 1367 (2 June 1988), Hashemi Rafsanjani became the supreme commander of the war; his duties in this position included establishing a general command headquarters to achieve complete unity; fully coordinating the army, the IRGC, the Basij, and the law-enforcement forces in all areas of the Sacred Defense; centralizing the military industries and the procurement of Sacred Defense needs, and integrating logistical, technical, engineering, combat, training, and cultural resources; eliminating or merging unnecessary and redundant structures in order to make the fullest use of available resources and to prevent material and human resources from being used in unnecessary matters; centralizing the propaganda and cultural affairs of the armed forces in all areas; and the proper application of wartime military court laws and the punishment of offenders at every level.⁠[22]

Hojjat al-Islam Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was elected in Mordad 1368 (July/August 1989) in the fifth presidential election; resolving issues left over from the Imposed War, securing the release of Iranian prisoners of war held in Iraq, and pursuing the implementation of Resolution 598 were among the duties of this administration.⁠[23] Hashemi Rafsanjani’ s supporters gave him the title “ Commander of Reconstruction” and called his administration the “ Government of Reconstruction. ”

In Shahrivar 1369 (August/September 1990),⁠[24] Hashemi Rafsanjani received the First-Class Fath (Victory) Medal from the Leader of the Revolution.⁠[25]

In Khordad 1372 (May/June 1993), he was also elected in the sixth presidential election.⁠[26] He was Chairman of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership from 1386 to 1389 (2007– 2010),⁠[27] and served as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council of the System from 1368 (1989) until the end of his life.⁠[28]

Hashemi Rafsanjani died of a heart attack on 19‌^th Dey 1395 (8 January 2017) at the age of 82;⁠[29] his body was carried in funeral processions at the Jamaran Hosseinieh and the University of Tehran,⁠[30] and the Leader of the Revolution performed the funeral prayer over his body, which was ultimately laid to rest at Imam Khomeini’ s mausoleum.⁠[31] Following his death, three days of public mourning were declared across the country,⁠[32] and a number of countries’ diplomatic officials paid their respects by visiting Iranian representative offices abroad and signing condolence books.⁠[33]

Sarv Street⁠[34] and Niayesh Freeway in Tehran were renamed after Hashemi Rafsanjani.⁠[35] The book A Narrative of the Life and Times of Hashemi Rafsanjani and How Leaders Think are among the books written about him. He is also the author of Amir Kabir, or the Hero of the Struggle against Colonialism and the Rahnama Commentary and Quranic Encyclopedia in 53 Volumes.⁠[36] To date, 25 volumes of his diaries have been published, under titles such as The Era of Struggle, Revolution and Victory, Revolution in Crisis, Passing Through the Crisis, After the Crisis, Calm and Challenge, Toward Destiny, and Hope and Anxiety, among others.⁠[37]