Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

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  Iran's Possible Next Supreme Leader Being Examined: Rafsanjani

  An Iranian committee is examining potential candidates to be the next Supreme Leader, former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said today, breaking a taboo of talking publicly about succession in the Islamic Republic.

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  Iran Considered Nuclear Weapons During 1980s Iraq War, Ex-President Says

  Iran considered pursuing a nuclear deterrent when it began its nuclear programme in the 1980s, during an eight-year war with Iraq, a former president has been quoted as saying.

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  Son of Former Iran President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Submits to Jail Term

  The son of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani presented himself at Tehran's Evin prison on Sunday to begin serving a ten year sentence on charges linked to embezzlement, bribery and what state television called "anti-security issues".

• Shoe thrown at Iran President Hassan Rouhani after historic phone call to Barack Obama

  A shoe was thrown at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's motorcade today as he arrived home to a mixed reception after his historic call with Barack Obama, an AFP correspondent reported.

• Iran President Hassan Rouhani pulls off cabinet balancing act

  By choosing ministers known more for their experience than their political views, President Hassan Rouhani has proposed a cabinet that achieves a rare feat in Iranian politics - it satisfies both reformist and conservative factions.

• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gets post-presidency seat in top Iran council

  Iran's supreme leader today appointed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Expediency Council, the country's top political arbitration body headed by an avid critic of the outgoing president.

• Hassan Rowhani, Iran's new president, is a moderate pledged to engage with world

  Hassan Rowhani, the cleric who won Iran's presidential election on Saturday, is a moderate who has pledged to engage more with world powers in hopes of easing crippling economic sanctions.

• Iran's reformist leader Mohammad Aref quits presidential race

  Mohammad Reza Aref, the sole reformist candidate in the June 14 presidential race, has withdrawn after receiving advice from reformist former president Mohammad Khatami, his website reported this morning.

• Iran reformers seek comeback in presidential vote

  Iranian reformists are making a tentative return to mainstream politics with two candidates in Friday's presidential election, despite the opposition being a shadow of the movement that briefly rocked the establishment in 2009.

• Inside Iran's presidential election and beyond

  Some questions about Iran's June 14 presidential election and beyond.

• Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to contest ally's 'unjust' vote ban

  Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday he will ask supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to reverse what he branded the unjust disqualification of a close aide from next month's presidential election.

• Iran's Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani barred from standing for president

  Iran's moderate ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a former government official Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie have been barred from contesting the June 14 presidential election, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

• Iran to list approved candidates for presidential elections in June

  Iran's June 14 presidential election steps up a gear on Tuesday when the Guardians Council releases the approved list of candidates who have passed muster under the vetting process.

• Iran's presidential election race opens up as surprise candidates enter fray

  After the huge protests that followed the 2009 election, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may have hoped June polls would quietly install a loyal conservative president, but the surprise candidacies of two major independents may scupper that.

• Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani joins Iranian election race

  Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani threw himself into Iran's election race on Saturday as a flurry of heavyweight candidates rushed to beat the registration deadline in the most unpredictable contest for decades.