The former Iranian president died after “a long illness” at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital.
The first president of the Islamic Republic, Abolhassan Banisadr, died Saturday in a Parisian hospital, announced the official Iranian agency, Irna.
“Following a long illness, Abolhassan Banisadr died in hospital on Saturday“De la Pitié-Salpêtrière,” the agency said, citing a source close to the former head of state who died at the age of 88.
A political refugee in France since 1981, this former intimate of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, was elected president in January 1980 before being dismissed 17 months later.
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Benefiting from constant police protection, Abolhassan Banisadr had lived in Versailles, in the Paris region, since May 1984, after having resided in Auvers-sur-Oise and Cachan, two other towns near Paris.